Violet lifts the lid on those secretly sexy Victorians

Instead of indulging in common euphemisms of the time, he simply described some of the ladies in Roushill and Mardol as prostitutes, and listed buildings as brothels.

"It is really rare for anybody to have done that," says Violet Fenn of Shrewsbury, for whom it has meant those census returns are a fascinating piece of information to draw on for her new book, "Sex and Sexuality in Victorian Britain."

"The returning officer for the census made a decision to record people's occupations quite straightforwardly, rather than using euphemisms. There were an awful lot of 'seamstresses' and 'milliners' who were walking the streets as prostitutes.

"It's just fascinating, and I have loved being able to use my home town as an example."

So there's a Sarah Jones who is keeping a brothel in Masons Passage, and Margaret Morris of Kings Head Shut who gives her occupation as "lodging house keeper" but nevertheless has "brothel" written and underlined beneath her address by the returning officer.

In writing the book, which also reveals the full and original – and unprintable – name for Grope Lane in Shrewsbury, Violet is aiming to give a new insight into what the Victorians were really like.

"It's always been an era I'm fascinated with. It's always portrayed as being incredibly prudish and restrictive. Knowing how humans work, that's never going to be the case. People will always have a private life, even if we just don't know about it. The reason we feel Victorians are prudish is because they didn't write it down.

"Our preconception is that the Victorians were buttoned up and staid and didn't approve of anything, but Queen Victoria was very open about her physical affection for Prince Albert.

"The Victorians laughed and loved and drank and had sex, not always in marriage.

"And there was a huge pornography industry in London which massively predated Soho."

Violet, who has two children and lives in Monkmoor, used to write on the Metro website about the history of sexuality. Her work was spotted by publisher Pen & Sword, which had been looking for somebody to write a book about Victorian sexuality.

Violet also used to write for the trade magazine for the UK adult industry.

"It's an unusual career path I have had. I used to write erotica under the name Indigo Moore, and have been quite successful in that in the past."

Going back to our image of the Victorians, she says: "We like to think we are more open, and in a lot of ways we are. We also like to judge those who came before us, and that's not a good point. The Victorians led the way in a lot of things and were nowhere near as staid as we think.

"We can't judge them. As a society we are still judging people. You could argue that we are much more tolerant as a society, and generally I think people are much more accepting."

Violet is happy to share her researches, saying: "If anybody wants me for talks or Zoom, I would love to do it."

"Sex and Sexuality in Victorian Britain" is published by Pen & Sword and costs £19.99.