Hannah Cullwick

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Hannah Cullwick (26 May 1833 – 9 July 1909) was a working-class English woman whose diary depicts her immense pride in her work and reveals themes of domestic and racial fetishism that structured both her life and the society of the British Empire in which she lived. While working in domestic service, Hannah Cullwick had a chance encounter with prominent barrister and philanthropist Arthur Munby, who was conducting a close study of the conditions of working women. The two embarked on a lifelong, unconventional relationship. Both of their diaries – as well as letters and photographs – document the role-playing, cross-dressing, and other fetish rituals that differentiate their relationship from the perceived norms of Victorian England. Cullwick's diary also reveals the autonomy she was able to keep even in the throes of extreme social inequality.

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