2 November 1960: Lady Chatterley’s Lover deemed not obscene

A jury of nine men and three women returned a unanimous verdict of “not guilty” in the Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial on this day in 1960.

Man reading Lady Chatterley's Lover on a train © Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The verdict led to depravity on a previously unseen level
(Image credit: Man reading Lady Chatterley's Lover on a train © Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

From Queen Victoria, right through the first half of the 20th century, Britain was a famously prudish and sexually repressed nation. Then came the Swinging Sixties, and it all flopped out into the open, with naked flesh and free love everywhere.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.