Boulton and Park

Thomas Ernest Boulton
Born	18 December 1847 Tottenham, Middlesex
Died	30 September 1904 (aged 56) Holborn, London
Other names	Stella, Mrs. Graham, Stella Clinton
Occupation	Bank clerk, Theatrical performer

Frederick William Park
Born	21 November 1846
Died	29 March 1881 (aged 34)
Other names	Fanny Winifred Park, Mrs. Graham
Occupation	Law student, Theatrical performer

Thomas Ernest Boulton and Frederick William Park were two Victorian cross-dressers and suspected homosexuals who appeared as defendants in a celebrated trial in London in 1871, charged "with conspiring and inciting persons to commit an unnatural offence". After the prosecution failed to establish that they had anal sex, which was then a crime, or that wearing women's clothing was in any sense a crime, both men were acquitted.

(Thomas) Ernest Boulton (1847–1904) was born on 18 December 1847 in Tottenham, Middlesex, England, the son of stockbroker Thomas Alfred Boulton and his wife, née Mary Ann Sarah Levick. He died of a brain tumour on 30 September 1904 at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. From childhood he liked wearing female clothing, and was encouraged in his impersonations of maids and other women by his mother; he used the nickname "Stella".

Frederick William Park (1846–1881) was born on 21 November 1846 and christened on 5 January 1847 in Wimbledon, Surrey, the son of barrister Alexander Atherton Park, Master of the Court of Common Pleas (a superior court) and his wife, née Mary Frances Brown. His headstone in Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester NY, USA, cites a death date of 29 March 1881.

Boulton started work as a clerk at his uncle's stockbroking firm and then briefly at a bank, before leaving in 1866 or 1867. Park was initially an articled clerk (law student) with a London solicitor.

As they became friends, Boulton and Park formed a theatrical double act, touring as Stella Clinton (or Mrs Graham) and Fanny Winifred Park, and receiving favourable press reviews for their performances. For around two years they also frequented the West End of London in both women's and men's dress, attending theatres and social events. They were ejected from both the Alhambra Theatre and the Burlington Arcade on several occasions. On one occasion they were bound over to keep the peace after being mistaken for women dressed as men.

A third person involved in the affair was Lord Arthur Clinton, who had lived with "Stella" as husband and had exchanged love letters with Stella.

...
Wikipedia