Mrs. Theresa Berkley

Screen 3 of 4

Mrs. Berkley would become know as the quintessential 19th century British Dominatrix女支配者 — a dominant woman. She later moved and ran a brothel at 28 Charlotte Street, just to the north of Soho, specializing in, of course, flagellation.

It was at this location that Theresa Berkley invented her now famous Berkley Horse, better known today as a spanking bench.

It is a well-known fact that women have always been more fond than men of wielding the rod. At the early part of the 19th Century, very sumptuously fitted-up establishments, exclusively devoted to the administration of male discipline, were not uncommon in London. Some famous female flagellants were as follows:

A woman simply known as Mrs Collett. She was famous for wielding a mean whip and she had an establishment in Tavistock Court. She brought up her niece in the same line, who, as Mrs. Mitchell, carried on a successful business in various places, among others at No 22 Waterloo Road, and finally at St Mary's Square, Kennington.

Then came a woman known as Mrs. James, who had been a maid女仆 — a woman servant in the family of Lord Clanricarde. She had a house at No 7 Carlisle Street, Soho; she retired from business with a good fortune, and dwelt at Notting Hill in luxury, her house being decorated with pictures, and her person covered with jewels. Men of wealth and prominence came to visit Mrs. James in order to receive her specialty, which was a severe whipping with a birch.