The Covent Garden Ladies: The Extraordinary Story of Harris's List

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The Covent Garden Ladies: The Extraordinary Story of Harris's List Page 36

by Rubenhold, Hallie


  Garrick, David 14, 35, 38, 41, 84, 201, 203, 206, 260, 261, 263

  Gay, John 34

  Gentleman, Francis 32, 33, 37, 77

  Goadby, Jane 195–6, 198, 199

  Goldsmith, Oliver 76

  Grand Ball d’Amour 252

  Grant, James 124

  Grosvenor, 1st earl of 217, 255

  Grosvenor, Lady Henrietta; 252

  Grub Street 75–6, 77, 161

  Haddock’s Bagnio 12, 118, 214

  Hamilton, Emma 285, 287

  Hanway, Jonas 178, 179, 183

  Harris, Charles 263, 265

  Harris, Jack/John Harrison 17, 118, 119, 165, 200

  legend of 18–22, 184–6, 262–3

  early years as Harrison 22–3, 24, 26–7, 281

  and Shakespear’s Head 54–5, 56–7, 63–4, 111–12

  arrest 181–3

  and The Rose Tavern 201–6, 260–62, 263–4

  publishing enterprise 204–5

  final years and death 262–66

  Harris, John 205

  Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies (printed version) 118–21, 124–27, 163, 164, 239–40, 266–7, 269, 276, 277–80, 281–3, 285

  Women listed in

  —, Miss 137

  Abbingdon, Frances 131–2

  Adams, Miss 138

  Atchison, Kitty 175, 296

  B—ckley, Kitty 135

  B—l—w, Betsy 145

  Baker, Sukey 286

  Benevent, Charlotte 158

  Berry, Mrs 155–6

  ‘Betsy’ 269

  Bland, Miss 174

  Boothby, Miss 158

  Bowen sisters 293

  Bradley, Lucy 159

  C—l, Miss 158–9

  C—l—d, Miss 176–7

  ‘Cherry’ Poll 128

  Charlton, Miss 294

  Child, Becky 286

  Clarkson, Miss 160, 171

  Coulthurst, Emily 144–5

  Crosby, Nancy 294

  Cross, Miss 134

  Cullen, Sarah 294

  Cumming, Mrs 134–5

  Cuyler, Margaret 130

  D—rkin, Hetty 176

  Dafloz, Madam 156–7

  Davenport, Nancy 294

  Davis, Bet ‘Little Infamy’ 117, 129

  Dean, Miss 295

  Deville, Mrs 150

  Dorrington, Jenny 146

  Euston, Kitty (also Eustace) 290

  F—m—n, Sally 142

  Ferne, Mrs Charlotte 157

  Fernehough, Miss 175–6

  Fitzroy, Miss 294

  Forbes, Mrs 154–5

  Forrester, Pol 137

  Fowler, Mrs 148–9

  Freeland, Mrs 138

  Gainsborough, Charlotte 295

  George, Mrs 143

  Gordon, Tamer 176

  Grant, Miss 172

  H—lsb—ry, Miss 151

  Hamblin, Mrs 136

  Hartford, Fanny (also Temple) 95, 286

  Hawkins, Polly 129

  Hendridge, Mrs 148–9

  Heseltine, Miss 294

  Horton, Mrs 160

  Hudson, Betsy 269

  Hudson, Miss 172–3

  Ingmire sisters 293

  Jackson, Polly 136

  Jordan, Miss 146

  Kennedy, Polly 155

  Kilpin, Miss 138–40

  L—k—ns, Miss 173–4

  Ledger, Miss 149

  Lee, Miss 152

  Lefevre, Becky (also Clapereau) 285

  Lorraine, Charlotte 132–33

  Love, Eliza 132

  Loveborn, Miss 152

  M—c—ntee, Mrs 133–4

  ‘Madamoiselle’ 157–8

  Marshall, Miss 286

  Menton, Miss 289–90

  Miles, Betsy 153–4

  Noble, Miss 151

  Norton, Lenora 292, 296

  O’Dell, Miss 295–6

  Orwell, Mrs 175

  P—t—rson, Lucy 134

  Quiller, Mrs 159–60

  Ratcliff, Miss 290

  Robinson, Miss 133

  Saunders, Miss 137

  Seabright, Miss 294

  Sells sisters 147–8, 293

  Sims, Miss 147

  Smith, Miss 141–42, 164

  St—y, Nancy 136

  Str—on, Sally 146

  Townsend, Miss 294

  Trelawnley, Miss 294

  V—ne, Nancy 136

  Vincent, Mrs 294

  W—ll—s, Miss 142

  W—lp—le, Mrs 157–8

  Wallington, Miss 143–4

  Wargent, Miss 294

  West, Miss 135

  Wilkins, Miss 145–6

  Wilkinson, Isabella 130–1

  Williams, Mrs 140–41

  Young, Miss 155

  Harris, Thomas (theatrical manager) 78, 105–6

  Harrison, George 22, 23, 24, 27

  Harrison, Nicholas 204

  Harvey, Mary (née O’Kelly) 248, 271

  Hayes, Charlotte 15, 167, 237, 277, 290

  birth and early years 42–3, 45–51, 122

  physical description 50–1, 93–4, 161

  and Robert Tracy 88–91, 92, 94–101, 189

  and Sam Derrick 50, 51, 92–99, 100–101, 104, 196, 239–40

  in the Fleet 100–1, 189–94, 250, 251

  and Dennis O’Kelly 190–91, 192–99, 207, 239, 244–45, 246, 255–57, 270–71, 273–4

  Kings Place nunneries 207–22, 238, 250–55

  ‘Tahitian Feast of Venus’ 252–54

  pregnancy 240, 242–43

  and Mary Charlotte O’Kelly 247–50, 268, 270–1

  financial problems 100–1, 238, 250–51, 252

  mental breakdown 271–73, 275–76

  additional brothels 268–70

  Half Moon Street 258–59, 268, 269, 270, 284

  Hayward, Clara 209

  Hedges, Maria 236

  Hell Fire Club 22, 212

  Hickey, Joseph 249–50

  Hickey, William 53, 95, 124, 213–4, 249–50, 269–70, 286, 292, 297

  Hill, Aaron 77

  Hill, Dr. John 183–6, 263

  Hillsborough, earl of, ‘Wills Hill’ 84

  Hogarth, William 126, 161, 164, 165, 183, 201, 264

  Home, John 85

  Howard, Nancy 117

  Hughes, Mrs 117

  James, Ralph 76

  Jenyns, Soame 77

  Johnson, Dr. Samuel 14, 38, 41, 75, 79, 82, 84, 85, 110, 230

  Jones, Inigo 13

  Jones, Nancy 49–50

  Kelly, Charlotte (see Hayes, Charlotte)

  Kennedy, Polly 293–4

  Kenyon, Lord Chief Justice 283

  Kingston, 2nd Duke of 209

  Kitty’s Attalantis 205

  Leathercote, Richard 201

  Lessingham, Jane (also Stott, Hemet) 102–8, 162, 235–6

  Lewis, Harriott 251

  Lists of Prostitutes 62–3, 112–3, 114–5, 204–5

  Lucan, Lady Margaret 252

  Mackintosh, Captain 270

  Macklin, Charles 35, 52, 84

  Macklin’s Piazza Coffee House 14

  Magdalen Hospital 178, 179

  Mahon, Gertrude 252

  Mallet, David 77

  Markham, Enoch 33

  Matthews, Catherine 254

  Memoirs of the Bedford Coffee House 110–111, 113

  Memoirs of the Celebrated Miss Frances Murray 55, 60, 61, 164, 186

  Mist, Nathaniel 19, 20

  Mitchell, ‘Mother’ Elizabeth 216, 251

  Mordaunt, Henry 292

  Mossop, Henry 32

  Murphy, Arthur 87

  Murray, Fanny 49, 50, 64–5, 66, 88, 92, 166, 288

  Nash, Richard ‘Beau’ 49, 227, 228

  Needham, ‘Mother’ 126

  Newgate prison 183, 186, 187, 283

  Nocturnal Revels 22, 47, 88, 90, 91, 96, 99, 108, 195, 197, 210–211, 217–18, 219, 221, 251, 253–4

  Oeconomy of Love (John Armstrong) 220–1, 253


  O’Kelly, Andrew Dennis 248, 251, 258–9, 268, 271, 275, 276

  O’Kelly, ‘Mrs’ Charlotte (see Hayes, Charlotte)

  O’Kelly Dennis 166, 167, 241, 250, 268

  early years 190–91

  physical description 190

  rumours of marriage 191

  in the Fleet 192–96

  gambling 215, 190–2, 258

  and Eclipse 243, 244, 245

  Miss Swinbourne incident 245–6, 167

  hospitality of 255–56

  later years 272, 274

  death and will 274–5

  O’Kelly, Elizabeth 248, 271

  O’Kelly Mary Charlotte 247, 248–50, 268, 271–2

  O’Kelly Philip 244, 166, 272, 275, 276

  ‘Old’ Twigg 54

  Oldys, Dr. William 84–5

  Owen, Susannah 89

  Pendergast, Sarah 251, 252

  pimps/pimping

  charges

  ‘Poundage’ 65

  ‘Tire money’ 65–6

  ‘Chair money’ 67

  ‘arranging a flier’ 68

  ‘humming fund’ 67

  ‘Whore’s club’ revenue 66

  definition of 26

  pimp’s lists (handwritten) 62–3, 64–5

  Pitt, William 270

  Place, Francis 46, 124, 281

  posture molls 201–2

  Powell, Harriet 209, 287

  Pratt, Robert 88

  Price, Chace 212, 221

  Prostitution/Prostitutes 284–98

  virginity 46–7

  ‘in keeping’ 47–8

  professional names 48–9

  and married women 59

  Irish 60

  training of 60, 208–9

  ‘the Whore’s Club’ 66, 69–70

  brutalities and dangers of 95–6, 287, 288–91

  arguments in favour of 120

  social make-up 121–4, 287

  routes into the profession 125–27, 210–11, 285

  pregnancy 241–2

  marriage to keepers 287

  alcoholism 289–90

  perceptions of 291, 294–8

  relationships with other women 293–4

  living arrangements 292–4

  Queensborough, Duke of (‘Old Q’) 222

  Quin, James 231, 232

  Ranger, H. 114, 119, 122, 204, 280, 281, 282

  rape 126–7, 292

  Register Offices 58, 126, 210, 211

  The Remonstrance of Harris 55, 60, 69, 183–6

  Reynolds, Joshua 279

  Rich, John 104

  Richardson, Samuel 125

  Roach, James 280–3

  Roach, John 280–3

  Roach, Margaret 281

  Roach, Mrs 281

  Roach, ‘Tiger’ 281

  Rose Tavern 12–13, 95, 167, 201–4, 206

  Ross, David 166

  Rowlandson, Thomas 270

  S—t—n, Miss ‘The beauty of Arlington Street’ 168

  St James’s, Piccadilly 170, 199

  St Leger, Lord Hayes 78

  Sandwich, 4th earl of 217

  Savage, Richard 75

  Seaforth, 4th earl of 209, 287

  Selwyn, George 211, 212, 220

  Shakespear’s Head Tavern 12, 38, 39, 52–4, 70, 71, 80–1, 92, 95, 112, 181–82, 199, 200, 202, 203, 206

  Shannon, 1st earl of 224, 226

  Shelly, Miss 221

  Sheridan, Richard Brinsley 203, 263, 264

  Shuter, Ned 14, 52, 84, 131, 293

  Smart, Christopher 84

  Smith, Ann 45

  Smollett, Tobias 69, 78, 79, 84, 93, 108–9

  Soho 198

  Southwell, Lord Thomas 224

  Spencer, ‘The Honourable’ Charlotte 61–2, 165, 252

  Spencer, Robert 61–2

  Spilsbury, James 251

  Star Tavern 68

  Storace, Ann 276

  Stott, Mrs Jane (see Lessingham, Jane)

  Stott, Captain John 105

  Strode, Edward 88

  Strode, Lucy 88

  Swift, Jonathan 28

  Taylor, Dr. John 79, 102, 103, 104, 233

  Thompson, Edward 50, 51

  Temple, Fanny (see Hartford, Fanny)

  Tighe, Elizabeth (née O’Kelly) 248

  Timbs, John 24

  Tomkins, Packington 53–4, 57, 63–4, 71, 111, 181, 182, 184–5, 200, 201, 202–3, 206,

  Town and Country Magazine 93, 100, 231, 242

  Tracy, Judge Robert 86

  Tracy, Robert ‘Beau’ 86–91, 92–101, 189, 196, 231, 265

  Uxbridge, 1st earl of 217

  Vaughan, Thomas 124

  Von la Roche, Sophie 121

  Wales, George Prince of 217, 255

  Walpole, Sir Robert 19

  Ward, Charlotte (see Hayes, Charlotte)

  Ward, Elizabeth 42–5, 46–7, 48, 89, 91, 100, 189, 196, 212

  Ward, Ned 111

  Warren, Emily 214, 209, 285

  Watson, Thomas 201, 203

  Weatherby, ‘Mother’ Elizabeth 49, 214

  Welch, Justice Saunders 53, 121, 122, 123, 126, 178, 179, 180

  Weyms, Betsy 292

  Wildman, William 243

  Wilkes, Thomas 225

  Wilson, Tom 78, 233, 234

  Windsor, ‘Mother’ Catherine 251

  Woffington, Peg 35, 52, 84, 201

  Wood, J.L. 281

  Woodcock, Sarah 126

  Wright, Justice 181, 182, 183

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Hallie Rubenhold is a historian and expert in women’s lives in the eighteenth century. She is the author of the novel Mistress of My Fate, the first in the series of Confessions of Henrietta Lightfoot, a courageous Georgian courtesan. Also available is Hallie Rubenhold’s edited version of the original Harris’s List.

  Find out more about the author and her works at www.hallierubenhold.com, and about the series of novels, Confessions of Henrietta Lightfoot, at www.henriettalightfoot.co.uk.

  Read on for an extract from Mistress of My Fate by Hallie Rubenhold

  5th March 1835

  MY DEAR READER, how pleased I am that you have purchased this volume! It warms my heart that you have requested it from your bookseller; that he has wrapped it carefully in brown paper and string and handed it to you. How happy I am that you have taken it home with you to read in the quiet of your sitting room or library. Now you may know the truth, and nothing gives me greater relief than this.

  I have no doubt that many of you have come to this work out of curiosity. You have heard so much about me, most of which is pure fabrication. Now that you have torn off the packaging and cut the pages, you can begin to read my story and to know who I am. You see, for some time a relation of mine has been attempting to discredit me in the most reprehensible manner. I have no doubt that he too sent a servant to his local bookseller to collect a copy of this work. As you read this, so does he. His eyes are scanning every word, searching every syllable. He is among you, taking in my story alongside you.

  To him I say, Lord Dennington, do not think I have written these memoirs because of you. Do not flatter yourself. You are only part of the reason. There is much I need to say on the matter of my life and I have grown weary of your slander. Whomever you have hired to do your disgraceful deeds, whether it is those shameless scribes who will print anything for a crust of bread, or that unscrupulous little spy you planted among my loyal staff, they are not capable of telling the truth. You pay them and so they will say anything. Certainly, a man who has seen as much of the world as you should know this.

  Now it is my turn to pick up my pen, to clear my name, to scrub away the lies with which you have stained it. I must commend you for the amusement you have provided for me and my friends. We laughed heartily at your accusations – that I had been a circus performer, that I worked as a charlatan attempting to revive the dead and, worse still, that I murdered a ship of sailors. Really, this is quite absurd.

  No, sir, as you will come to r
ealize, these memoirs are not written solely because of you. I write because it is time for the public to hear my story, because for as long as I have been called Mrs Lightfoot, great men and women have asked for it. The world wants my confession yet, until this moment, I refused to honour that request. I wished to keep my life and my adventures quiet. Like you, my lord, discretion was one of the virtues I was taught as a child.

  As for my other readers, whose sensibilities I wish to protect, I feel the need to issue a warning. In these pages I set out to tell the absolute truth. If you take offence easily, if you are faint of heart or of a delicate nature, there is much here that you are likely to find objectionable. It is necessary for you to understand why I have, in the past, refused to discuss these private matters. My story is not an easy one to relay, nor is it likely to be short.

  I shall begin by telling you what I remember most vividly: an early morning in late October. I was but seventeen and so unprepared for the world that I hardly knew how to dress myself, let alone judge character or transact the business of ordinary life. I sat on the floor of my bedchamber in the darkness, entirely unaware of the hour. There was no fire in my grate, nor would there be anyone coming to light it. I shivered, from both the cold and a complete terror of that which I knew I must do.

  For most of the night I had sobbed. I had lain outstretched on the floor, like a condemned prisoner, unable to move or think, able only to ache. My life as I had known it was now about to end. But, as any good Christian will tell you, with death there also comes resurrection and the possibility of a better existence elsewhere. I knew this in my heart, and that rebirth was the sole path open to me. I had only to muster the courage to grab for it and, in doing so, let go of all that tied me to the girl I had been.

  So I did this, while the moon threw its dim cast across my window sill. I worked without so much as a candle to guide me, rummaging through the most essential of my belongings: linens, stockings, skirts, a petticoat and, most importantly, the few small items of value that I as a young lady owned. Of all a woman’s possessions, jewels will get her the furthest and mine, on several occasions, have saved me from experiencing the grossest of depredations. At the time, I had but two trinkets: a gold and pearl cross, which I always wore upon my person; and a pair of simple pearl eardrops. I was too young for diamonds. Those are for married women, and in any case, owing to my precarious position within their family, Lord and Lady Stavourley saw no need to adorn me so lavishly.

  I wrapped my bundle as a servant would, in a sheet. I had never before carried my own belongings and I did not even know how to tie them up securely. However, I found that soft packet offered me some comfort as I clutched it to my breast. It calmed my trembling.

  I dressed for the road, but not without some struggle, sliding on my sturdiest shoes and fumbling with the buttons of my grey riding habit. Around my shoulders I threw my blue cape, the hood of which rested atop my black hat. I hoped to look respectable for my journey without drawing attention to myself. In truth, I knew that most people would be able to guess my circumstances. It is not usual to see a well-dressed young lady with spotless white gloves and a quivering expression travelling unchaperoned.

 

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