Margaret Clap

Margaret Clap
Died	circa 1726
Nationality	English
Other names	Mother Clap
Occupation	Coffee house operator
Known for	Running a popular molly house in the early 18th century

Margaret Clap (—circa 1726), better known as Mother Clap, ran a coffee house from 1724 to 1726 in Holborn, London. Notable for running a molly house, an inn or tavern primarily frequented by homosexual men, she was also heavily involved in the ensuing legal battles after her premise was raided and shut down. While not much is known about her life, she was an important part of the gay subculture of early 18th century England. At the time sodomy in England was illegal, punishable by a fine, jail time or execution. Despite this, particularly in larger cities, private homosexual activity took place. To service these actions there existed locations where men from all classes could find partners or just socialize, called molly houses, "molly" being slang for a gay man at the time - and possibly originating from Margaret Clap's house, given that Molly is a short name for Margaret, much like Ted is short for Edward. One of the most famous of these was Clap's molly house.

Clap's molly house

Margaret Clap ran a coffee house that served as a molly house for the underground gay community.^[1][2] Her house was popular during the two years of its existence (1724 —1726^[3]), being well known within the gay community. She cared for her customers, and catered especially to the gay men who frequented it. She was known to have provided "beds in every room of the house" and commonly had "thirty or forty of such Kind of Chaps every Night, but more especially on Sunday Nights." ^[4] Clap was present during the vast majority of the molly house's operational hours, apparently only leaving to run across the street to a local tavern, to buy drinks for her customers. Because Clap had to leave the premise to retrieve alcohol to serve to her customers, it is likely that the molly house was hosted in her own private residence.^[5][6] Unlike other molly houses, it was not a brothel.^[6] Clap's intentions may have been based more upon pleasure than profit, judging by her goodwill towards her customers. For example, one man lodged at her house for two years and she later provided false testimony to get a man acquitted of sodomy charges.^[1][6] Her actions during the charges later laid against her and many of the gay community showed her loyalty to her customers.^[1][6]

Raid of 1726

In February of 1726, Margaret Clap's molly house was raided by the police; around 40 of its occupants were arrested.^[2] Primarily targeted by the Society for the Reformation of Manners, the house had been under surveillance for two years.^{[6][Note 1]} The surveillance seems to have been instigated by a collection of vengeful mollies-turned-informants. A man named Mark Patridge was outed by his lover and was then turned as an informant for the police.^[1] He led policemen into molly houses, introducing each of them as his "husband" so that they could investigate more thoroughly.^{[1][Note 2]} Patridge was not tried in court for sodomy. Another notable informant was Thomas Newton, who frequently used entrapment to allow constables to arrest men in the act of instigating sodomy.^[3][5]

Notes

1. ^ Some sources say the house had only been surveilled for a year prior to the raid.
2. ^ The idea of calling a molly's lover their husband was based on the faux-marriages that took place at some molly houses, often with a man playing a priest, and others acting as bridesmaids.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Norton, Rictor (Feb. 5, 2005). "The Raid on Mother Clap's Molly House". http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/mother.htm. Retrieved Feb. 11, 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Bateman, Geoffrey (Aug. 18, 2005). "Margaret Clap". glbtq.com. http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/clap_m.html. Retrieved Feb. 11, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Norton, Rictor (June 20, 2008). "The Trial of Margaret Clap". http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/clap.htm. Retrieved Feb. 11, 2010. 
4. ^ Norton, Rictor (June 20, 2008). "The Trial of Gabriel Lawrence". http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1726lawr.htm. Retrieved Feb. 11, 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Norton, Rictor (June 20, 2008). "The Trial of Thomas Wright". http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1726wrig.htm. Retrieved Feb. 11, 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} Aldrich, Robert; Wotherspoon, Garry (2001). Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II. Routledge. p. 98. ISBN 9780415159821. 

Persondata
Name	Clap, Margaret
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	1726
Place of death