About Queer History Cumbria

Queer History Cumbria was launched in 2026 as a way for Cumbrians and others to explore the queer history of the county. It aims to bring together what we know about queerness in Cumbria’s past.

Local historian Neil Whalley created the site, expanding from research begun in 2023 and inspired by a project for LGBT+ History Month. Neil tells us how the Queer History Cumbria came about:

I have often wondered what my life might have been like as a gay man if I had lived in Cumbria in the past. Would I have recognised and accepted my sexuality? Could I have lived openly and been accepted by others? Would I have found others like me? Could I have found love with a man or would I have been pressured to marry a woman?

When I started trying to answer these questions, I was unsurprised to find limited information available on Cumbria’s queer history. There was an excellent but short-lived blog called LGBT+ Language and Archives that looked at some of Cumbria’s queer connections and references to a few of the more well known queer characters in other sources. General histories of the county almost completely ignored any of our LGBTQ+ past.

Determined to improve that situation, I began to delve deeper, scouring newspaper articles, criminal records, history books, biographies — anything that might provide some information. I gradually uncovered more evidence of queer lives in Cumbria.

At first I wasn’t sure what to do with the information. Then an LGBT+ History Month project at work inspired me to create Queer History Cumbria to make the information easily available. Hopefully it will inspire others to do their own research and contribute to the LGBTQ+ history of the county.

Please Get In Touch if you know of any aspects of Cumbria’s Queer History we’ve missed.