Most famous female flagellant
There were many high-class brothels in the nineteenth century. One of the most famous of
these was run by a
Mrs. Theresa Berkley (or Berkeley) of 28 Charlotte Street. She was a "governess", i.e. she
specialised in
chastisement, whipping, flagellation, and the like. She was even credited with the invention of
the Berkley horse,
an ingenious flogging machine that earned her a fortune. One writer (B. J. Hurwood in
"The Golden Age of
Erotica") said of her - "She possessed the first requisite of a courtezan, viz., lewdness;
for without a woman is
positively lecherous she cannot keep up the affectation of it, and it will soon be perceived that
she moves her
hands or her buttocks to the tune of pounds, shillings, and pence".