Wolfenden Committee

The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Lord Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in Britain on 4 September 1957 after a succession of well-known men, including Lord Montagu, Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood, were convicted of homosexual offences.

Under the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act, any homosexual activity between males was illegal. After World War II there had been an increase in arrests and prosecutions, and by the end of 1954, in England and Wales, there were 1,069 men in prison for homosexual acts, with a mean age of 37. Following several sensational trials, notably that of Alan Turing and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, the Conservative government set up a Departmental Committee under Sir John Wolfenden to consider both homosexual offences and prostitution.

The committee of 15 (three women and 12 men) was led by John Wolfenden (1906–85) who had previously been headmaster of Uppingham and Shrewsbury and in 1950 became Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading. He later became Director of the British Museum.

In addition to the chairman, the committee members were the following:

The committee first met on 15 September 1954 and met on 62 days, 32 of which were used for interviewing witnesses. Wolfenden suggested at an early stage that for the sake of the ladies in the room, that they use the terms Huntley & Palmers after the biscuit manufacturers – Huntleys for homosexuals, and Palmers for prostitutes. Evidence was heard from police and probation officers, psychiatrists, religious leaders (who in those days were at the forefront of homosexual law reform), and gay men whose lives had been affected by the law.

The estimated cost of preparing the report was £8,046 of which £735 represented the estimated cost of printing and publication. The secretary for the committee was W.C. Roberts (Home Office) and his assistant was E.J. Freeman (Scottish Home Department).

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