Theresa Berkley or Berkeley (died September 1836) was a 19th-century English

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

who ran a

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

Hallam Street Hallam Street is a road situated in the Parish of St Marylebone and London's West End of London, West End. In administrative terms, it lies within the City of Westminster's West End (Westminster ward), West End Ward as well as the Harley Str ...

, just to the east of

Portland Place Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the 3rd Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to the BBC's headquarters Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Insti ...

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, London, specialising in

flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, floggin ...

. She is notable as the inventor of the "chevalet" or " Berkley Horse", a

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...

apparatus.

Career as a dominatrix

Theresa Berkley ran a high-class flagellation brothel at 28

Charlotte Street Charlotte Street is a street in Fitzrovia, historically part of the parish and borough of St Pancras, in central London. It has been described, together with its northern and southern extensions (Fitzroy Street and Rathbone Place), as the ' ...

(which is today's 84–94

). She was a "

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

", meaning she specialised in chastisement, whipping, flagellation, and the like. She invented the " Berkley Horse", an apparatus that reportedly earned her a fortune in flogging wealthy men and women of the time. There are no artworks depicting what Theresa Berkley looked like, and occasional descriptions usually report that she was attractive, with a strong disposition. An expert with all instruments of torture, her talents became highly sought after by the

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

of the day. She was a master of the art of inflicting pain for pleasure, and practised absolute privacy to protect her clientele. Her clients were said to have been both men and women of wealth, and her career was financially lucrative. Berkley's fame was such that the pornographic novel ''

Exhibition of Female Flagellants ''Exhibition of Female Flagellants'' is an 1830 pornographic novel published by George Cannon in London and attributed, probably falsely, to Theresa Berkley. The principal activity described is flagellation, mainly of women by women, described ...

'' was attributed to her, probably falsely. One writer said of her: According to an unnamed source quoted by

Henry Spencer Ashbee Henry Spencer Ashbee (21 April 1834 – 29 July 1900) was a book collector, writer and bibliographer. He is notable for his massive, clandestine three-volume bibliography of erotic literature published under the pseudonym of Pisanus Fraxi. Life ...

, she used a wide variety of torture instruments, including cat-o'-nine-tails, leather straps, holly brushes, green nettles, and a hook and pulley. Berkley enjoyed a certain amount of torture inflicted ''on her'' by her clients, given that they were willing to pay her price, but she also employed a number of women for that task if indeed her clients wished to inflict more pain than she was willing to take herself.The Flogging Whores of Old London

After her death

Shortly after her death in 1836, her brother, who had been a missionary for 30 years in Australia, arrived in England. When he learned the source from which the property she had left him had been derived, he renounced all claim, and immediately went back to Australia. In default, the property was bequeathed to Dr Vance, her medical attendant and executor; but he refused to administer, and the whole estate, valued at , was

escheat Escheat () is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied t ...

ed to the crown. Dr Vance came into possession of her correspondence, several boxes, which was said to have contained letters from the highest aristocracy, both male and female, in the land. The letters were eventually destroyed.

Notes

References

* Anil Aggrawal, ''Forensic and Medico-Legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices'', CRC Press, 2008, , p. 150 * Patricia J. Anderson, ''When Passion Reigned: sex and the Victorians'', BasicBooks, 1995, , p. 98 * Åke E. Andersson, Nils-Eric Sahlin, "The complexity of creativity", Synthese library: studies in epistemology, logic, methodology, and philosophy of science v. 258, Springer, 1997, , p. 59 *

Iwan Bloch Iwan Bloch (8 April 1872 – 21 November 1922), also known as Ivan Bloch, was a German dermatologist, and psychiatrist, psychoanalyst born in Delmenhorst, Grand Ducal Oldenburg, Germany, and often called the first sexologist. Together with Mag ...

, ''Le Marquis de Sade et Son Temps'', Editions Slatkine, repr. 1970, p. 196 * Iwan Bloch, ''The Sexual Life of Our Time in Its Relations to Modern Civilization'', BiblioBazaar repr. 2009, , p. 573 * Iwan Bloch, ''Sexual Life in England, Past and Present'', F. Aldor, 1938, p. 353 * Bernhardt J. Hurwood, ''The Golden Age of Erotica'', Sherbourne Press, 1965 * John K. Noyes, "The mastery of submission: inventions of masochism", ''Cornell studies in the history of psychiatry'',

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

, 1997, , pp. 12–14 * Mike Pentelow, Marsha Rowe, ''Characters of Fitzrovia'', Chatto & Windus, 2001, , p. 97 * Geoffrey Leslie Simons, ''A Place for Pleasure: the history of the brothel'', Harwood-Smart Publishing, 1975, , p. 52 *

Autumn Stanley Autumn Stanley (1933–2018) researched inventions by women and patents obtained by women in the United States. She is widely known for her book titled, ''Mothers and Daughters of Invention''. Early life and education Autumn Joy Stanley was born ...

, ''Mothers and daughters of invention: notes for a revised history of technology'', Volume 36", Rutgers University Press, 1995, , pp. 585–586

Bibliography

* Ashbee, Henry Spencer Ashbee (aka "Pisanus Fraxi") (1969) ''Index of Forbidden Books'' (written during the 1880s as ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum''). London: Sphere * Marcus, Steven (1966) ''The Other Victorians: a Study of Sexuality and Pornography in Mid-Nineteenth-Century England''. London:

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkley, Theresa 1836 deaths Year of birth unknown English brothel owners and madams English dominatrices 19th-century women inventors English inventors People from Soho Whipping 19th-century English businesspeople 19th-century English businesswomen