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279:'s many years of financial dealings with Hodgson. As Leanne Robinson notes, although Gillott "freely acknowledged his role as Caroline's mortgagee, he claimed ignorance as to the nature of business – despite the fact that, as a parliamentarian, he'd been instrumental in framing legislation against gambling and licensing and had chaired public meetings on the suppression of vice." Within a week, Gillott had resigned and soon after returned to England, and Hodgson had lost a significant ally.
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while they were on a trip to visit relatives in
Germany in 1896. There was a reconciliation in 1898, but a divorce was granted in February 1907 'on the grounds of desertion'. In court 'she appeared as a most benevolent looking old lady, and quite secured the sympathy of the court by her demeanor and
307:" block in 1988-9 and 2003, but they did not include the site of Hodgson's former properties. The studies did, however, establish prostitution as one of the key activities of this area in the late nineteenth century. All of the artefacts recovered during these digs are held by the Melbourne Museum.
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In April 1907, after appearing in court charged under new laws with "owing and operating a disorderly house", the ailing
Caroline Hodgson closed her brothels in Lonsdale Street. With failing eyesight, diabetes and chronic pancreatitis, she continued to live at her Lonsdale Street property until her
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Madame
Brussels is also associated with the disappearance of the Victorian Parliamentary mace in 1892. Rumours suggest politicians took the valuable object to one of her brothels 'where Members used it for "unparliamentary activities"'. Another theory has the mace disappearing at a brothel owned by
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newspaper also regularly attacked her, reporting in detail any of her court appearances. For example, in March 1906, the paper ran the headline "Madame
Brussels' Notorious Bawdy House: Her Junketing Jezebels", above drawings of her "flash" girls. A wealthy grazier had called the police after his
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The reason for
Hodgson's decision to turn to brothel keeping in 1874 is unknown, but historian Leanne Robinson suggests women had relatively few options open to them as a means to survive the economic uncertainty of life alone in the colony. Domestic service was poorly paid, as were the few
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By the end of 1874, Caroline, using the name 'Madame
Brussels', was running a number of brothels, an occupation she continued successfully until 1907. When her husband became ill with tuberculosis in late 1892, Hodgson arranged for him to be nursed in at "Gnarwin", a property she owned on
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Hodgson's former brothels at numbers 6-8 and 32-36 Lonsdale Street were demolished to make way for factories sometime before 1914. These factories were, in turn, demolished to make way for the
Commonwealth building in the 1990s. Major archaeological investigations were conducted in the
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Several buildings still remain that were contemporary with Madam
Brussel's era. These include the former Black Eagle Hotel (built 1854) at number 42-44 Lonsdale Street and the worker's cottage at Number 17 Casselden Place (built 1877).
256:, religious crusader Henry Varley singled out Madame Brussels for particular scorn, describing her as an "accursed procuress", who was protected by the city's magistrates. In one famous passage, he claimed she had toured the streets of
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Madame
Brussels was 'used as a political football in 1906' and, the following year, was forced to close her businesses after the introduction of the Police Offences Act and increased efforts by the government to curtail prostitution.
134:; a daughter of John and Frederica Lohman or Lohmar. She married the well connected Studholme George Hodgson in London on 18 February 1871 and the couple immediately migrated to Australia, arriving in
260:"in charge of a beautiful young girl under twenty, with a white feather in her hat, telling by advertisement (the white feather) that maiden virtue was to be had for a price in her gilded den"
162:. He died in 1893. Memorial notices she placed as 'his loving wife Caroline Hodgson' made mention that he was 'brother-in-law of the baronet Sir Francis Wood, the brother of Sir Evelyn Wood'.
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newspaper during their long campaign against her. Justin McCarthy also suggests the elite sex industry offered an attractive financial and social independence for women.
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Caroline
Hodgson's former seaside property in St Kilda still stands. A city laneway has been named after her, and a Melbourne bar also bears her name.
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In the late 19th century Hodgson became the target of increasing vilification from newspapers and public figures. In his 1891 pamphlet
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In 1895, Hodgson married German engineer Jacob Pohl, who was at least 15 years her junior. However, Pohl suddenly disappeared to
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p. 57. Australian Construction Services prepared for The Department of Administrative Services and Telecom Australia
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The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne; Archaeological Investigation Report. Volume 1; Historical and Archaeological Report.
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watch and sovereign purse were stolen in the brothel. Later that year, in a major exposé, the paper detailed Sir
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occupations open to women – such as dressmaking and teaching. Hodgson's establishment of brothels in the
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Varley quoted in Graeme Davidson, David Dunstan & Chris McConville (Eds) (1985)
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beside her first husband. She was survived by an adopted daughter, Irene
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484:. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 7 February 1894. p. 1
456:. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 7 February 1901. p. 1
428:. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 8 February 1904. p. 1
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The Women of Little Lon, Sex Workers in Nineteenth-Century Melbourne
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524:. Perth: National Library of Australia. 5 December 1906. p. 3
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550:, Supplementary Volume, Melbourne University Press, pp 182-183.
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and "Madam Brussels Lane" (formerly Little Leichardt Street)
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on 24 June 1871. In November 1872, Studholme joined the
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The Oddfellows Hotel, built in 1853, on the corner of
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600:p. 50. Allen & Unwin, Australia.
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354:"The Madame: Caroline Hodgson (1850-1908)"
656:Museum Victoria's website on "Little Lon"
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382:. p. 216. La Trobe University Press
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150:, leaving his 25-year-old wife alone in
98:(c. 1851 – 11 July 1908), also known as
400:Madame Brussels: This Moral Pandemonium
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248:Campaign against her and end of career
722:20th-century Australian businesswomen
717:19th-century Australian businesswomen
170:recital of the story of her wrongs'.
106:proprietor and local identity of the
682:Australian brothel owners and madams
628:L. M. Robinson (2009) pp. 96–97
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697:People from the Colony of Victoria
548:Australian Dictionary of Biography
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559:L. M. Robinson. (2009) p. 26
692:Immigrants to the British Empire
295:Madame Brussels Lane entry from
264:her 'chief rival' Annie Wilson.
118:, during the late 19th century.
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544:"Hodgson, Caroline (1851-1908)"
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196:Career as a brothel keeper
146:and was placed in country
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516:"A BENEVOLENT OLD LADY"
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158:Beaconsfield Parade,
582:"A Graziers Carouse"
398:L.M.Robinson (2009)
283:death in July 1908.
188:. She was buried at
177:home suffering from
126:Hodgson was born in
707:People from Potsdam
360:on 25 December 2013
236:, acting much as a
215:Little Lon district
116:Victoria, Australia
108:Little Lon district
102:, was a well-known
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658:– wayback machine
639:"Madame Brussels"
408:978-0-9804367-2-3
190:St Kilda Cemetery
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324:Sarah Fraser
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138:on the ship
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54:(1908-07-11)
52:11 July 1908
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677:1908 deaths
672:1851 births
528:1 September
488:1 September
460:1 September
432:1 September
268:John Norton
666:Categories
330:References
305:Little Lon
83:Occupation
481:The Argus
453:The Argus
425:The Argus
364:31 August
258:Melbourne
152:Melbourne
148:Mansfield
136:Melbourne
112:Melbourne
68:Australia
64:Melbourne
318:See also
179:diabetes
160:St Kilda
140:Melmerby
183:chronic
132:Prussia
128:Potsdam
104:brothel
87:Brothel
42:Prussia
38:Potsdam
34:c. 1851
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287:Legacy
617:Truth
546:, in
272:Truth
219:Truth
89:madam
602:ISBN
530:2013
490:2013
462:2013
434:2013
404:ISBN
384:ISBN
366:2013
181:and
122:Life
49:Died
31:Born
270:'s
110:in
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