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There is little known about Mrs. Berkley's early history but contemporary accounts describe her early 19th century brothel with great detail (and a little awe). As one writer described it: "At her shop, whosoever went with plenty of money could be birched?, whipped, fustigated (cudgeled), scourged, needle-pricked, half-hung, holly-brushed, furse brushed, butcher-brushed, stinging-nettled, curry-combed, phlebotomized, and tortured until he had a belly full". The extensive array of instruments in her establishment exceeded the imagination and she even pioneered in developing new forms of erotic pain.
As one source described, ""She had a dozen tapering whip thongs, a dozen cat-o'-nine-tails studded with needle points, various kinds of thin supple switches, leather straps as thick as traces, currycombs and oxhide straps studded with nails, which had become tough and hard from constant use, also holly and gorse and a prickly evergreen called 'butcher's bush.' During the summer, glass and Chinese vases were kept filled with green nettles."
Her clients included men and women from all classes of society (providing they could afford her services) and she was absolutely discreet. For those clients who preferred to give out the abuse, Mrs. Berkley and the numerous girls employed in her establishment allowed themselves to be whipped (customers paid extra, of course). One of Theresa Berkley's most notorious inventions (now known as the Berkley Horse) was an adjustable whipping table on which the naked client could be secured and placed in various positions for maximum erotic pleasure. She also maintained a hook and pulley for hanging up the clients for their whipping pleasure.
Given the nature of her clientele, Mrs. Berkley had little fear of being imprisoned or transported like so many other brothel keepers of her time. There were certainly no police raids such as the one that doomed poor Margaret Clapp?. The prices that she charged her highly placed clients made her extremely well off. In one surviving letter, a customer hearing about her "famous apparatus" offered her the following pricing: ""a pound sterling for the first blood drawn, two pounds sterling if the blood runs down to my heels, three pounds sterling if my heels are bathed in blood, four pounds sterling if the blood reaches the floor, and five pounds sterling if you succeed in making me lose consciousness."
Theresa Berkley continued to reign as the queen of her profession until her death in 1836. Which is when things got a little strange...
Mrs. Berkley's brother, a very proper missionary who had been living in Australia for the previous 30 years, returned to England to settle his sister's estate. Whatever his plans had been, he was horrified to discover how his sister had made her money (his reaction to the various instruments in her establishment can only be imagined). He renounced any claim to her estate and returned to Australia.
Theresa Berkley
Theresa Berkley (died September 1836) was a 19th century English dominatrix? who ran a brothel at 28 Charlotte Street, just to the east of Portland Place, Marylebone London specialising in flagellation?. She is notable as the inventor of the "chevalet" or "Berkley Horse", a piece of BDSM apparatus.There is little known about Mrs. Berkley's early history but contemporary accounts describe her early 19th century brothel with great detail (and a little awe). As one writer described it: "At her shop, whosoever went with plenty of money could be birched?, whipped, fustigated (cudgeled), scourged, needle-pricked, half-hung, holly-brushed, furse brushed, butcher-brushed, stinging-nettled, curry-combed, phlebotomized, and tortured until he had a belly full". The extensive array of instruments in her establishment exceeded the imagination and she even pioneered in developing new forms of erotic pain.
As one source described, ""She had a dozen tapering whip thongs, a dozen cat-o'-nine-tails studded with needle points, various kinds of thin supple switches, leather straps as thick as traces, currycombs and oxhide straps studded with nails, which had become tough and hard from constant use, also holly and gorse and a prickly evergreen called 'butcher's bush.' During the summer, glass and Chinese vases were kept filled with green nettles."
Her clients included men and women from all classes of society (providing they could afford her services) and she was absolutely discreet. For those clients who preferred to give out the abuse, Mrs. Berkley and the numerous girls employed in her establishment allowed themselves to be whipped (customers paid extra, of course). One of Theresa Berkley's most notorious inventions (now known as the Berkley Horse) was an adjustable whipping table on which the naked client could be secured and placed in various positions for maximum erotic pleasure. She also maintained a hook and pulley for hanging up the clients for their whipping pleasure.
Given the nature of her clientele, Mrs. Berkley had little fear of being imprisoned or transported like so many other brothel keepers of her time. There were certainly no police raids such as the one that doomed poor Margaret Clapp?. The prices that she charged her highly placed clients made her extremely well off. In one surviving letter, a customer hearing about her "famous apparatus" offered her the following pricing: ""a pound sterling for the first blood drawn, two pounds sterling if the blood runs down to my heels, three pounds sterling if my heels are bathed in blood, four pounds sterling if the blood reaches the floor, and five pounds sterling if you succeed in making me lose consciousness."
Theresa Berkley continued to reign as the queen of her profession until her death in 1836. Which is when things got a little strange...
Mrs. Berkley's brother, a very proper missionary who had been living in Australia for the previous 30 years, returned to England to settle his sister's estate. Whatever his plans had been, he was horrified to discover how his sister had made her money (his reaction to the various instruments in her establishment can only be imagined). He renounced any claim to her estate and returned to Australia.