Caroline Hodgson aka Madama Brussels, circa 1875–1879. (Photo: State Library of Victoria) Inset: Barbara Minchinton. (Photo: Viv Mellina)

Victorian-era Melbourne had a thriving sex industry, and the flashiest of the flash madams was Caroline Hodgson, aka Madame Brussels. My guest today is Barbara Minchinton, author of the new book, Madame Brussels: The Life and Times of Melbourne’s Most Notorious Woman.

In this episode we talk about Madame Brussels’ life in the context of Victorian-era Melbourne. We cover sectarian disapproval her so-called “mixed marriage”, some of the myths surrounding her, and the do-gooders who tried to shut her down.

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01. Barbara Minchinton | Black Inc.

Barbara Minchinton is a historian and independent researcher. For several years she collaborated with a team of archaeologists on the interpretation of artefacts from Melbourne’s Little Lon district. She is the co-editor of "The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne", a historical archaeology of the city’s working-class and immigrant communities, and the author of "The Women of Little Lon".
02. Madame Brussels by Barbara Minchinton | Black Inc.

Born in Prussia to a working-class family, Caroline arrived in Melbourne in 1871. Left alone when her police-officer husband was sent to work in remote Victoria, she turned her hand to running brothels. Before long, she had proved herself brilliantly entrepreneurial: her principal establishment was a stone's throw from Parliament House, lavishly furnished and catered to Melbourne's ruling classes.
03. Caroline Hodgson - Wikipedia

Caroline Hodgson (c. 1851 – 11 July 1908), also known as Madame Brussels, was a well-known brothel proprietor and local identity of the Little Lon district in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, during the late 19th century.
04. Victorian gold rush - Wikipedia

In the 1850s gold discoveries in Victoria, in Beechworth, Castlemaine, Daylesford, Ballarat and Bendigo sparked gold rushes similar to the California Gold Rush. At its peak some two tonnes of gold per week flowed into the Treasury Building in Melbourne.
05. Marvellous Melbourne - Wikipedia

The term Marvellous Melbourne was a cultural product of 19th-century Melburnians' pride in living in the "booming"[6] city of Melbourne... "Marvellous Melbourne: Queen City of the South" is a 1910 documentary of Melbourne that takes the audience through the hotspots of its central business district and surrounding features. Published in 1910, the film stands as the oldest surviving documentary of the city.
06. Prostitution in France - Wikipedia

["The French System"] In 1804 Napoleon ordered the registration and bi-weekly health inspection of all prostitutes. State controlled legal brothels (then known as "maisons de tolérance" or "maisons closes") started to appear in Paris and in other cities and became highly popular throughout the century. By 1810, Paris alone had 180 officially approved brothels.
07. Melbourne International Exhibition - Wikipedia

The Melbourne International Exhibition was held from 1 October 1880 until 30 April 1881. It was the second international exhibition to be held in Australia, the first being held the previous year in Sydney.
08. Royal Exhibition Building - Wikipedia

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between 1851 and 1915 around the globe. The building sits on approximately 26 hectares (64 acres), is 150 metres (490 ft) long and is surrounded by four city streets.
09. Henry Varley: (Almost) The Restoration Movement's First "Mega-Preacher" | Michael Strickland - Academia.edu

As the Teacher bemoaned, "The people of long ago are not remembered " (Eccl 1:11), too many times the important figures of one era are quickly forgotten in the next. Such could be said in the case of Henry Varley, who played a pivotal role in the history of British Churches of Christ in the late 1800s, though always as an outsider. The purpose of this article is to detail the important evangelistic work done by Varley, his cooperation with Restoration Movement leaders in Britain, and the ultimate reasons for his failure to fully associate with the Disciples of Christ.
10. The missing mace | Parliament of Victoria

Examine the clues in one of Victoria's most daring thefts. Can you solve the case? Though the missing mace has been replaced, we still hope it will be returned! In fact there is a reward of $50,000 on offer.
11. John Norton (journalist) - Wikipedia

John Norton (25 January 1857 – 9 April 1916) was an English-born Australian journalist, editor and member of the New South Wales Parl...

The 9pm Tale of Madame Brussels with Barbara Minchinton