| Reference Number (Click this to reveal full catalogue structure) | AA |
| Title | April Ashley's Personal Papers |
| Date | c.1950-2021 |
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| Extent | 16 shelves |
| Description | This collection contains the papers of April Ashley MBE (1935-2021), the Liverpool-born model, performer, and transgender activist, c.1950s-2021. This includes:
• Personal and legal records related to her 1963 marriage to aristocrat Arthur Corbett and landmark 1970 Corbett v Corbett case.
• Medical and legal documentation related to her transition, including those submitted as evidence to the Corbett v Corbett case.
• Papers and correspondence related to political campaigns, such as friend Rachel Horsham’s petition to the European Court of Human Rights, HORSHAM v THE UNITED KINGDOM (23390/94).
• Papers from her career at the famous Le Carrousel de Paris cabaret, and later as a model and actress, including documents related to many other trans and crossdressing performers.
• Personal photographs documenting her private social life c.1950s onwards, including many previously unseen photographs.
• Personal correspondence c.1952-2021, including with friends of note, such as Viva King.
• Personal diaries.
• Fan mail from members of the public, which April responded to.
• Extensive newspaper clippings and publications surrounding Ashley, c.1960-2021 which evidence changing public opinion and discourse towards not just Ashley herself, but trans people in society overall, in addition to her high profile fashion campaigns.
• Two pairs of shoes belonging to Ashley.
• Records of Ashley’s life in Hay-on-Wye from 1975-1980s, during which time Richard Booth, eccentric and self-appointed King of Hay, dubbed her First Lady, Duchess of Hay and Offa's Dyke.
• Awards, memorabilia, and letters of support.
• Draft manuscripts of April Ashley's Odyssey (1982) and other publications about Ashley's life.
• Papers from the 2013-2015 National Museums Liverpool exhibition April Ashley: Portrait of a Lady.
• Digital-born media including interviews with April Ashley. |
| AdminHistory | April Ashley MBE (1935-2021) was one of the earliest recorded British trans women to undergo gender affirming surgery in 1960, after she was outed by The Sunday People in 1961. Public discourse surrounding her highly publicised 1963 marriage to aristocrat Arthur Corbett, later 3rd Baron Rowallan, and the subsequent landmark Corbett v Corbett High Court of Justice case annulling their marriage in 1970 were both unprecedented. This, in addition to her life-saving community activism, for which she received her MBE, and successful modelling and acting career, has cemented April Ashley as one of the most significant figures in 20th Century British LGBTQ+ history. |
| CustodialHistory | The LGBTQ+ arts festival Homotopia first approached April Ashley in 2007 to devise their 2013-2015 exhibition April Ashley: Portrait of a Lady in collaboration with National Museums Liverpool (NML). The exhibition received £78,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, after which her papers were deposited into Liverpool Record Office (LRO). The collection was subsequently withdrawn from LRO and retained by the executors of Ashley's will.
Following Ashley's death in 2021, discussions for LJMU to acquire the collection began in 2023 and it was officially deposited at LJMU Special Collections & Archives in 2025. |
| Related Material | For more information on the 2013-2015 exhibition April Ashley: Portrit of a Lady, see:
• https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/museum-of-liverpool/exhibition/april-ashley-portrait-of-lady#section--the-exhibition
• https://youtu.be/lep9w51JmXQ?si=EHxfJBBIhBebLudK
• https://youtu.be/3eeHn4F6eII?si=poWPrrGjD5FJtKcr
• https://youtu.be/QHO7m5lc-gI?si=jBAZnbFP-VmF4cOk
For an oral history by Homotopia with April Ashley in 2014 where she discusses photographs from this collection, see: https://youtu.be/glC6xLVWuIY?si=muTyoWQPiaA3O0P3
For a short film by Homotopia on April Ashley visiting sites from her childhood in Liverpool for her 80th birthday in 2015, see: https://youtu.be/wX-NhWb47sc?si=kcvBnqz294Ak_v9K
For more biographical information on April Ashley's life, see April Ashley's Odyssey (1982) by Duncan Fallowell and April Ashley.
For more on the significance of the 1970 case Corbett v Corbett, see The Tyranny of Ordinary Meaning: Corbett v Corbett and the Invention of Legal Sex (2019) by Christopher Hutton.
Other related collections held at LJMU SCA include GE for Gary Everett's papers, covering Liverpool's LGBTQ+ arts and clubbing scene, c.1980s-2000s; and PF for the papers of Peter Farrer, crossdresser and crossdressing historian. Liverpool Record Office also retain some papers related to the 2013 exhibition. |
| AccessStatus | Open |
| AccessConditions | Please note that this collection is currently uncatalogued, but you may still request to view material. We currently cannot guarantee access to all of the collection as it has mostly not yet been appraised, although we anticipate developing finding aids to improve access to this collection soon.
Be aware that access to some of these records may be closed or restricted because they contain personal data which identifies people who may be alive, in accordance with data protection legislation. Please contact archives@ljmu.ac.uk for all appointments and enquiries. |
| Creator | Christopher Olive, Assistant Archivist 2025 |