The beautiful story of Maurice Dobson, a cross-dressing miner who found love in a Barnsley pit village

Maurice Dobson wore make-up, lived with Fred and was accepted in Darfield’s community.

The carefully crimped hair, immaculately manicured eyebrows and flamboyant lipstick give this image all the hallmarks of 1950s fashion and femininity.

But what makes it remarkable is that this is a photograph of Maurice Dobson – former coal miner, war veteran and boxer – who was openly gay in his hometown of Barnsley during an era where homosexuality was illegal and rarely discussed.

A further twist is that Maurice and his partner Fred Halliday were – by and large – accepted as part of the Darfield community where Maurice had grown up and ran a corner shop in the post-war decades.

Poet and village resident Ian McMillan described it as “a story of tolerance”.

Mr McMillan talks of Maurice’s distinctive demeanour behind the counter of the shop – sat on a high stool, wearing a powder blue suit, with a cigarette in a holder between his fingers. To complete the image, a swearing parrot was also in the room.

In that era, where Barnsley’s pit villages were insular and traditional communities, it must have taken strong reserves of courage or conviction – maybe both – to take the course followed by Maurice and Fred.

Maurice’s dress sense meant he would stand out in any circumstances but he had a reputation for dressing as a woman while out on the streets of Darfield and nearby Wombwell.

When Maurice was born in Low Valley, a mile or so from the shop, in 1912 his future would have been beyond the imagination of those around him.

His early years were entirely normal, starting work at Mitchell’s Main Colliery aged 14 like most of his peers, but after three years his independent spirit took him off to join the Army – a posting which would last 17 years, see service in North Africa, hone his boxing skills and find his life-long partner in Fred.

After being demobbed they spent a decade working in hotels to coastal resorts, before returning to Darfield to take on the shop, then an off-licence owned by the Barnsley Brewery – the force behind the legendary Barnsley Bitter.

They were eventually able to buy the shop and ran it until Maurice hit 65, when it was immediately closed and stayed that way until both men died, with Fred’s departure in 1988 and Maurice two years later.

They had been avid antiques collectors and retirement allowed that to continue, though Ken said Maurice was far from expert – once sawing down a leg on a Jacobean chair to make it rest evenly on the stone floor of their home.

He also had a sense of mischief, with the unwary finding a magazine photograph in a cameo frame where a skillfully painted portrait might have been expected to sit.

But there were treasures and today they are held at the Cannon Hall museum, with the house and shop left to Barnsley Council and now Darfield Museum, to tell the story of both Maurice and the wider village.

Mr McMillan said: “People liked them, they respected them. I have always thought of it as a story of tolerance.

They would walk up and down the village, dressed up, and nobody would say anything.”

Mr Brookes said there may have been confrontations, largely involving groups of lads gathering outside the large Georgian window of their shop.

But such problems were “sorted out” by Maurice, who’s tough military background was acknowledged by most, whatever they may have thought about his lifestyle.

His personality was “a bit sharp”, said Mr Brookes, who acts as a guide at the museum, and even after Fred’s death – which left him devastated – he was still able to “fall out with his ashes”, putting them away in a cupboard until he felt the matter was resolved.

He describes the shopkeeper as Darfield’s Noel Coward.

“He was only a small fellow, but he had done 17 years in the forces and you didn’t mess with him. He sorted things out himself in the early days. I think the police were glad of that, as well.”

Mr Brookes was a teenager in the late 1950s and was a regular customer in the shop, which was across the road from a tennis club he used frequently and the Darfield Empire theatre.

But like most in that era, he was unaware of the realities of the lifestyle the two shopkeepers led. Or at least which they were assumed to lead, he said wistfully.

Because no one ever knew for sure how the relationship worked beyond the public gaze.

To see more photos please click here.

International Non-Binary People’s Day

International Non-Binary People’s Day is observed each year on 14 July and is aimed at raising awareness and organising around the issues faced by non-binary people around the world. The day was first celebrated in 2012 and was chosen for being precisely midway between International Men’s Day (19 November) and International Women’s Day (8 March).

Being non-binary can be dismissed by some as a new fad, born from a western identity-obsessed culture – however non-binary people have been recognised and recorded round the world. In India non-binary people have been mentioned in Hindu texts dating back over 2000 years, and many cultures, such as some Native American peoples, Hawaiians, and Tahitians, have a history of inclusion of a third gender in their societies’ roles.

Pride For All Ages
 
Older LGBT+ people were visible at Pride Edinburgh 2024:

Beauty contests – then and now

In 1967 Stephanie Germain, a 22-year-old, won a beauty contest in Atlantic City, Wyoming. She entered just a year after she transitioned. Unfortunately, the judges disqualified her after she informed a fellow competitor she was (in the words of the day) a sex-change.

Miss Maryland USA

On 1 June 2024, Bailey Anne Kennedy became the first trans woman to be crowned Miss Maryland USA.

Kennedy is a Cambodian American, making her also the first Asian American to win the pageant. She holds the honour of being the first military spouse to win as well.

Kennedy’s victory marks a transformative moment in how transgender individuals are perceived in the US. This milestone will inspire confidence within the trans community, encouraging more trans and gender nonconforming individuals to aspire towards their dreams and break barriers.

Other winners

Kataluna Patricia Enriquez was the first transgender woman to be crowned Miss Nevada in 2021. She was also the first trans woman to compete in the national Miss USA pageant.

Marina Machete Reis was the first trans woman to be crowned Miss Portugal in 2023.

Rikkie Valerie Kollé was the first trans woman to be crowned Miss Netherlands in 2023.

Angela Maria Ponce Camacho won the title of Miss Spain in 2018 and was the first trans woman to ever compete in the Miss Universe pageant.

After years of resistance, more and more major beauty pageants are selecting transgender women to compete. It’s shaking up ideas about inclusivity, questioning the modern world’s beauty standards — and perhaps redefining gender itself.