Percy Jocelyn (1764-1843) was Anglican Bishop of Clogher in the Church of Ireland from 1820 to 1822. He was forced from his position after being caught have sex with a Grenadier Guardsman, John Moverley - an act which had been outlawed under the Buggery Act 1533.
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In 1811, Jocelyn's brother’s coachman, James Byrne, accused him of "taking indecent familiarities", and of "using indecent or obscene conversations with him".
Not only did Jocelyn deny this, he sued Byrne for criminal libel, which resulted in a conviction of two years in gaol and a public flogging.
On 19 July 1822, Percy Jocelyn was caught having sexual with a Grenadier Guardsman, John Moverley, in the back room of The White Lion public house, St Albans Place, off The Haymarket, Westminster
The two men were bailed out by the Earl of Roden, but Jocelyn broke bail and fled to Scotland, where he assumed a new name & worked as a butler.
A public subscription was raised to raise money for James Byrne, whose 1811 conviction was now recognised as a miscarriage of justice. This image shows Byrne being flogged & later praised after his allegations were upheld.
In October 1822, Jocelyn was declared deposed in his absence by the Metropolitan Court of Armagh in October 1822 for "the crimes of immorality, incontinence, Sodomitical practices, habits, and propensities, and neglect of his spiritual, judicial, and ministerial duties"
Jocelyn was the most senior British churchman to be involved in a gay sex scandal in the 19th century.
He was widely satirised in the pamphlets and songs of the day. This limerick was particularly popular.
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