HARRIS'S LIST AS A SOURCE FOR THE DIVERSE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL NATURE OF PROSTITUTION IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LONDON

This thesis examines the eighteenth-century publication, Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies, which was published from 1760 to 1793. It argues for the validity of the List as a historical source for studying prostitutes in eighteenth-century London and how information from the List can be compiled into a database and analyzed. This information includes age, price, appearance, personality, and ethnicity on the hundreds of prostitutes in the List. This thesis also argues that prostitutes made a rational choice to engage in prostitution since it provided better earnings than other occupations available to women at the time. Harris's List documents the socio-economic range of prostitutes in London and shows some broad changes over the 1700s, particularly price and age. Harris's List reveals a different, more entrepreneurial perspective on prostitution and shows that London prostitutes were just as diverse as their non-prostituting counterparts who were both struggling to find employment and economic stability