How long have gay men/lesbians been living in Brighton?
Although much of gay and lesbian history has never been recorded, the earliest recording of gays and lesbians in the town was in August 1822, George Wilson, a servant from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was accused by a guardsman he had met in the Duke of Wellington public house in Pool Valley of having offered him a sovereign and two shillings to go with him onto the beach to commit an unnatural crime. Philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906), great friends of Charles Dickens and the Duke of Wellington, spent part of each year on holiday at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton with her companion Hannah. The couple were devoted to each other, were socially recognized as a pair, even sent joint Christmas cards, and when Hannah died in 1878, Miss Burdett-Coutts told a friend that she was utterly crushed by the loss of “my poor darling, the companion and sunshine of my life for 52 years”. If you would like to read more please go to Brighton our history project you will be able to find more in
