HE is swarthy-skinned and a little cheeky, and he gazes defiantly at the camera, his hands clasped to his chest, as if suggesting he is the picture of innocence.

But this long-forgotten petty thief may well have been the lover of one of our nation’s literary geniuses.

This sepia-tinted Victorian photograph depicts a man thought to be the “little dark-eyed chap” who caught the eye of Reading Gaol’s most infamous inmate, Oscar Wilde.

Henry Bushnell was a labourer and thief and it is believed he was the man mentioned by Wilde in a letter to a friend as someone he was attracted to during his two-year incarceration at Reading Gaol.

Wilde was imprisoned for homosexual offences in 1895, an event which scandalised society at the time.

Academics at Reading University have uncovered never-before-seen evidence of the inmates Wilde shared the prison with during his two- year sentence with hard labour.

Their research has turned up seven mugshots of Bushnell from the archives of Berkshire Record Office. Bushnell was a prolific — or just plain inept — thief who was locked up 21 times between 1892 and 1911.

But Peter Stoneley, Professor of English Literature at the University, said it is likely that full details of the pair’s relationship will ever be known.

He said: “Victorian prisoners were not officially even allowed to speak to each other while in prison — much less eat or work together, or form private relationships.

“What we do know is that as well as mentioning him in his letters, Wilde sent money to Bushnell after he was released from prison, although further meetings are unlikely.”

The seven mugshots of Bushnell are believed to be the only known photographs in existence of any of the working-class young men in whom Wilde took an interest throughout his life.

They form part of a new exhibition, Oscar Wilde and Reading Gaol, which opens at the Berkshire Record Office in Coley Avenue, next Wednesday.

Professor Stoneley delved into the prison’s archives, working with the record office to discover poignant details of the Victorian prison system and the lives of Wilde’s fellow inmates.

Wilde went on to write his famous Ballad of Reading Gaol and continued to campaign against the brutal treatment of prisoners and deplorable conditions long after his release.

Professor Stoneley said: “Wilde himself urged us to look beyond this story to 'the others’, the men, women and children who were in prison alongside him.

“It was seeing and understanding their suffering that helped him to come to terms with his own, and it made him an extraordinarily powerful advocate for prison reform.”

Wilde, a prolific poet and playwright renowned for his wit, was married and had two children at the time of his conviction. Before his downfall, he had visited the Thames Valley with his family, staying at a house in Goring for the summer, which gave him the inspiration to create characters such as Lord Goring and Lady Bracknell. The university research has been released to coincide with the 160th anniversary of Wilde’s birthday today.