The Female Detectives of Victorian Britain
The real female Victorian detectives were every bit as bold as their fictional counterparts – and far more prevalent than we might assume.
For those who sought their services, there were many professional female detectives in Britain in the 1880s and 1890s, and not just in London – you could find them in Bristol, in Cardiff and in Glasgow, too. By January 1875 The Times was advertising, back-to-back, the services of the ‘Confidential Agency’ of Leslie and Graham in Holborn, assisted by ‘men of 20 years’ experience, and female detectives’, and Arthur Cleveland Montagu in Cornhill, which offered ‘a large staff of experienced detectives, male and female’. Women private detectives had been operating for some time and their services added value to the firms that could boast them.
What kinds of cases were these female detectives working? Again, newspaper adverts offer vital clues. In 1881 Bristol’s Western Daily Mercury offered a ‘Private Inquiry Office for the West of England’, with:
MALE AND FEMALE DETECTIVES, Divorce, Libel and all Private Matters carefully investigated. Elections Watched. Charges Moderate.
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