Kathleen "Kit" Black Coleman

Kathleen "Kit" Coleman traveled overseas in 1892 to go undercover as a male to report for The Toronto Mail to discover what it was like to live in London's East End.

Description

Kit Coleman's series for the Toronto Daily Mail, cross-dressed as a tramp, reported from London's East End in 1892.

Authors

Subjects

Effects and Outcomes

Coleman attracted flattering attention in 1892 for venturing overseas and cross-ressing as a male worker in London to spend a few days reporting for the Toronto Daily Mail on life in London's East End. Escorted by a male detective, she wandered into 'all sorts of queer places' in the hamlets along the Thames as part of the male writer tramp-fest that had been under way since as early as 1782.

Media History

The reporting was intended for these media types: Newspaper

V-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail

Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius

1892-04-16

". . .We cross London bridge and turn sharply to our left on the Surray side, and after many crossings and wanderings we get at least to Jacob's island. The existence of this place was denied even at the time Oliver Twist was written. . ."

IV-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail

Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius

1892-04-02

"Come with me to a queer little square close to Piccadilly and Oxford street, and very near Regent street and I will show you Ralph Nickleby's house in Golden square, a place unchanged surely since the usurer gave his famous dinner party there. . ."

III-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail

Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius

1892-03-26

"If you want to find landmarks of Dickens, you will have to take a good many long walks, and cross and recross many bridges, and squares and courts. Sunday is by far the best day to do the famous old inns of court in the very heart of the city. . ."

I-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail

Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius

1892-03-12

". . .It's snowing as hard as it can while I write, and one cannot see out of window because of the frost on the panes, and one is cold with a deadly damp cold unknown to us in Canada. It is awful when real cold weather comes on in England. . ."

II-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail

Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius

1892-03-19

". . .It is not a long way to walk along the High street borough till you come to Horsemonger lane, where Chivery & Co. kept the tobacco establishment 'one storey high , which had the benefit of air from the yards of Horsemonger lane gaol. . ."