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"Posh"

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"Posh" was Joseph Fleter (1838-1913), a friend of the writer Edward Fitzgerald, the poet and translator of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

"Posh" Fletcher was a colourful figure in late Victorian Lowestoft and there are several photos of him. He had an on and off relationship (take that word any way you want) with Fitzgerald for many years and it was considered remarkable even at that time that a rough, hard -drinking fisherman would have a close friendship with a poet of Fitzgerald's class.

For a photographer like Jenkins, this portrait was a tourist souvenir photo and he sold them by the hundreds. For the more innocent tourists, Posh was a an icon of an east coast herring fisherman. For others, he was a the topic of a bit more gossip. Posh himself didn't seem to mind either way and traded on his notoriety when he could to scrape a living.

"My Dear Boy; Gay Love Letters Through the Centuries" by Rictor Norton has an interesting and family-friendly history of Posh and Edward Fizgerald.