Hunnish Scenes' and a 'Virgin Birth
A 1920s Case of Sexual and Bodily Ignorance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4494129 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lucy Bland (King's College - North Carolina, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 118-143 |
| Publication date | 2012-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History Workshop Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1363-3554 • E-ISSN: 1477-4569 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/hwj/dbr036 |
| PMID | 22830094 |
| OpenAlex | W2114196832 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 7 |
When, in June 1921, a clairvoyant informed Christabel Russell, to her great surprise, that she was pregnant, her husband denied paternity and petitioned for divorce on grounds of adultery. The Hon. John Russell claimed that on the very few occasions that they had slept in the same bed in their two and half years of marriage, his method of birth control (which she referred to disapprovingly as "Hunnish scenes") had made pregnancy impossible. What added to the sensational nature of the case was the revelation that whilst pregnant, Christabel's hymen was unbroken – hence the claims of a "virgin birth." Two divorce trials and two appeals followed. The first trial ended inconclusively, the second trial was won for John Russell by the eminent barrister Sir Edward Marshall-Hall, but on the second appeal, in the House of Lords, it was ruled that evidence questioning the legitimacy of a child born in wedlock was inadmissible. The decree nisi was rescinded and the baby was legitimized.
Art history · BLISS · Feminism · Human sexuality · Ignorance · Political science · Sexology · Sociology · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2023 (7) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |