For him, regulationism meant adherence to the values and ordered hierarchy of the governing elite as much as to sanitary reform.

What is less often recognized is that it was distinctly innovatory, marking important breaks with earlier theories of female sexuality and helping to generate an intellectual climate favourable to regulationism.

For James Stansfield, a prominent repealer, the critique of regulationism was founded on the belief that 'humanity is governed by a providential law which can only come from one source'.

But it quickly re-formed in 1897 to challenge fresh regulationism introduced into India, keeping up a constant barrage of propaganda against any return to compulsory medical inspection and detention of prostitutes at home.

A vigorous campaigner in support of regulationism, and a major witness on all the parliamentary inquiries, his studies Prostitution and Functions and Disorders of the Reproductive Organs, both published in 1857, were key contributions to the new medical discourse on sexuality.