Victor Barker: Difference between revisions
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In Sussex, Arkell-Smith met [[Elfrida Howard]]. By then, Arkell-Smith had begun to dress as a man. She left her husband in [[1923]] and began an [[Adultery|adulterous]] relationship with Howard. Howard believed Arkell-Smith was a man. |
In Sussex, Arkell-Smith met [[Elfrida Howard]]. By then, Arkell-Smith had begun to dress as a man. She left her husband in [[1923]] and began an [[Adultery|adulterous]] relationship with Howard. Howard believed Arkell-Smith was a man. |
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The couple began living at the [[Grand Hotel]], in [[Brighton]]. By then, Valerie Arkell-Smith had begun to use the name '''Victor Barker'''. On [[November 14]], Arkell-Smith and Howard married, in what ultimately was an illegal marriage, since Arkell-Smith married using the alias "Victor Barker" and she was a woman. |
The couple began living at the [[Grand Hotel (Brighton)|Grand Hotel]], in [[Brighton]]. By then, Valerie Arkell-Smith had begun to use the name '''Victor Barker'''. On [[November 14]], Arkell-Smith and Howard married, in what ultimately was an illegal marriage, since Arkell-Smith married using the alias "Victor Barker" and she was a woman. |
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A highly decorated WRAF officer, Arkell-Smith, as "Victor Barker", was arrested for implying that she was bankrupt while she was actually living comfortably with Howard, a heterosexual woman who did not know that "Victor Barker" was actually another woman. |
A highly decorated WRAF officer, Arkell-Smith, as "Victor Barker", was arrested for implying that she was bankrupt while she was actually living comfortably with Howard, a heterosexual woman who did not know that "Victor Barker" was actually another woman. |
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In [[1923]], Arkell-Smith was convicted of the acts she had been accused about. While in jail, it was discovered that she was a woman, and she faced further charges, of willifully causing a false statement to be entered into a register of marriage. Arkell-Smith spent a decade in jail. |
In [[1923]], Arkell-Smith was convicted of the acts she had been accused about. While in jail, it was discovered that she was a woman, and she faced further charges, of willifully causing a false statement to be entered into a register of marriage. Arkell-Smith spent a decade in jail. |
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==After jail== |
==After jail== |
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Revision as of 13:13, 16 January 2008
Valerie Arkell-Smith (1895-1960 as Valerie Barker), was a crossdresser who pretended to have fought in the RAF as Colonel Victor Barker.
Life prior to crossdressing
Arkell-Smith grew up in Jersey. She expressed desire about being born a boy. Arkell-Smith had a love for horses and cars, and she enlisted, as a woman VAD, in the British Army during 1914. In 1918, she married an Australian officer Harold-Arkell-Smith. She suffered a series of problems during her first marriage, including domestic violence and psychological abuse. Their marriage lasted a short period of time and they divorced shortly after they married. Arkell-Smith soon met another man, Ernest Pearce-Crouch, also from Australia. The couple moved in together, and they had two children, a boy and a girl.
Arkell-Smith and Pearce-Crouch moved to a farm in Sussex, and Arkell-Smith started to dress in a more masculine way.
Crossdressing
In Sussex, Arkell-Smith met Elfrida Howard. By then, Arkell-Smith had begun to dress as a man. She left her husband in 1923 and began an adulterous relationship with Howard. Howard believed Arkell-Smith was a man.
The couple began living at the Grand Hotel, in Brighton. By then, Valerie Arkell-Smith had begun to use the name Victor Barker. On November 14, Arkell-Smith and Howard married, in what ultimately was an illegal marriage, since Arkell-Smith married using the alias "Victor Barker" and she was a woman.
A highly decorated WRAF officer, Arkell-Smith, as "Victor Barker", was arrested for implying that she was bankrupt while she was actually living comfortably with Howard, a heterosexual woman who did not know that "Victor Barker" was actually another woman.
In 1923, Arkell-Smith was convicted of the acts she had been accused about. While in jail, it was discovered that she was a woman, and she faced further charges, of willifully causing a false statement to be entered into a register of marriage. Arkell-Smith spent a decade in jail.
After jail
After being released, Arkell-Smith moved to Henfield, where she lived as "John Hill". She was imprisoned for a short period of time in 1934, this time for theft.
Later, she wrote about her life three times, her books being published each time. She also became a circus entertainer, with the well-known act, Man-woman.
Death
Despite making a good living with her books and her circus appearances, Arkell-Smith died as a poor woman, under the name "Geoffrey Norton", in 1960.
Arkell-Smith is buried at Kessingland churchyard, by Lowestoft.
Legacy
D.H. Lawrence, in the essay "A Propos of Lady Chatterley's Lover," cited Colonel Barker (namely the fact that "his" wife believed for years that she was married to a man) as an example of the culture's profound and pervasive ignorance about sex.
The Brighton museum and history center celebrated her life during February, 2006, as part of England's LGBT month's celebrations.