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 courtesan, 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”.