Margaret Clap (better known as Mother Clap, died circa 1726) was a woman who ran a brothel for homosexual men in London in the early part of the 18th century.

At the time homosexuality in England was illegal, punishable by execution. Homosexual activity did take place, particularly in the larger cities, behind closed doors. In parts of the cities there existed brothels where men (from all social classes) who were looking for sex with other men could go. These were called molly houses, and the most famous of these was Mother Clap's molly house in the Holborn area of London, specifically on Field Lane (heading north to Farringdon), which was later destroyed by the construction of Holborn Viaduct.

After a tip off to the local constabulary, Mother Clap's was raided in 1726 and she was sentenced to spend time in the stocks. Public feeling against acts of sodomy was quite high at the time and Clap was physically attacked by angry citizens throughout her sentence. It is speculated that soon after her release from the stocks she died from the injuries she sustained, though no historical records document this ^*. Some of the men who were arrested with her were hanged at Tyburn on May 9 1726.

Some hold that the name "the clap" is an eponym of "Mother Clap" ("the clap" being a slang term for Gonorrhea) presumably because sexually transmitted diseases were rife among the underground homosexual community in the 18th century. However, the term "the clap" may date from 1587 (suggested etymology: from the Old French word "clapier", meaning "brothel"^*).

Homosexuality is no longer illegal in the UK as of 1967.

External links

• Rictor Norton Mother Clap's Molly House
• Rictor Norton (Ed), Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook

1726 deaths | British criminals | Crime in London | History of London | LGBT history of the United Kingdom