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, however only behind closed doors. In the seedier 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.

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 [1]. Some of the men who were arrested with her were hanged at Tyburn on May 9 1726.

Although molly houses no longer exist (due to homosexuality no longer being illegal in the UK as of 1967) Mother Clap's name lives on. Sexually transmitted diseases were rife among the underground homosexual community in the 18th century and so it is no surprise that the slang term for gonorrhoea, clap, should be named after the proprietor of the most famous molly house in London.

External links

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