Mrs Lechworthy
Encyclopedia
Mrs Lechworthy is a fictional dominatrix
appearing as a stock character in a number of works of Victorian erotica
, many by James Campbell Reddie
for the publisher William Dugdale
, including The Mysteries of Verbena House
: the name was also used in stories in William Lazenby
's magazine The Oyster
.
She is usually portrayed as running a "private establishment" in St John's Wood
, where she subjects men and women to beatings. Like her counterpart Rosa Coote
, the character is probably based on the real-life Theresa Berkley
who ran such an establishment in Soho
. Like her, Mrs Lechworthy (the variants of the name deriving from Victorian slang "lech" for sexual desire or fetish) is usually depicted as making use of a Berkley horse
-type flogging framework while wearing a corset and little else.
De Riot observes that a similarly named character (Mme Letchworth) is also found in French erotica, such was the perceived expertise of the English with le vice Anglais — England had long been represented as the natural home of flagellation. Thus, "Perhaps it was the cold climate which originally aroused in Englishmen a desire for whipping. Nowhere in the world do we find such a deep affection for the rod." And again — "Flagellation-mania (the desire to beat and flog) and preference for the use of the rod may be described as a specifically English abuse; it was so widespread among all ranks and ages that it formed one of the most interesting features of their sexual life."
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
appearing as a stock character in a number of works of Victorian erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
, many by James Campbell Reddie
James Campbell Reddie
James Campbell Reddie was an 19th-century collector and author of pornography who worked for the publisher William Dugdale, also writing as "James Campbell"...
for the publisher William Dugdale
William Dugdale (publisher)
William Dugdale was a publisher, printer, and bookseller of politically subversive publications and pornographic literature in England during the 19th century. By the 1850s he had become "the principal source of such publications in the country"...
, including The Mysteries of Verbena House
The Mysteries of Verbena House
The Mysteries of Verbena House, or, Miss Bellasis Birched for Thieving is a pornographic novel, set in a girls' school, written under the pseudonym Etonensis by George Augustus Sala and completed by James Campbell Reddie...
: the name was also used in stories in William Lazenby
William Lazenby
William Lazenby was an English publisher of pornography active in the 1870s and 1880s. He used the aliases Duncan Cameron and Thomas Judd...
's magazine The Oyster
The Oyster
The Oyster was an erotic magazine published in London in 1883 by William Lazenby, a continuation of The Pearl. Unlike its predecessor the emphasis is mainly on heterosexual pornography.-References:...
.
She is usually portrayed as running a "private establishment" in St John's Wood
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
, where she subjects men and women to beatings. Like her counterpart Rosa Coote
Rosa Coote
Rosa Coote is a fictional dominatrix appearing as a stock character in a number of works of Victorian erotica, including The Convent School, or Early Experiences of A Young Flagellant by William Dugdale and "Letters to a Lady Friend" or "Miss Coote's Confession" in The Pearl...
, the character is probably based on the real-life Theresa Berkley
Theresa Berkley
Theresa Berkley or Berkeley was a 19th-century English dominatrix who ran a brothel in Hallam Street, just to the east of Portland Place, Marylebone, London, specialising in flagellation...
who ran such an establishment in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. Like her, Mrs Lechworthy (the variants of the name deriving from Victorian slang "lech" for sexual desire or fetish) is usually depicted as making use of a Berkley horse
Berkley Horse
The Berkley Horse is a BDSM apparatus, supposedly designed for, or by, Theresa Berkley in 1828. She referred to it as a "chevalet".According to the account of Henry Spencer Ashbee:He continues:...
-type flogging framework while wearing a corset and little else.
De Riot observes that a similarly named character (Mme Letchworth) is also found in French erotica, such was the perceived expertise of the English with le vice Anglais — England had long been represented as the natural home of flagellation. Thus, "Perhaps it was the cold climate which originally aroused in Englishmen a desire for whipping. Nowhere in the world do we find such a deep affection for the rod." And again — "Flagellation-mania (the desire to beat and flog) and preference for the use of the rod may be described as a specifically English abuse; it was so widespread among all ranks and ages that it formed one of the most interesting features of their sexual life."