Rape in Regency London
Fitzroy Square London c.1800 We've recently been told that less than 5 per cent of rapes reported in England today lead to prosecution. I n Regency England, it was very different. A man accused of rape could face such severe penalties as the reproach of his wife -- a fearsome deterrent! East Fitzroy Square, London 1807 This case was reported in 1817 as taking place in Fitzroy Square in the heart of Mayfair. The accuser, or "prosecutrix" as she was called in court, was a fourteen-year-old servant girl and the man she accused was her employer, a butcher in Fitzroy Market. The newspaper report ran:- WEDNESDAY. - Clark, a butcher, in Fitzroy-market, was indicted for a rape on Leah Edwards . The prosecutrix deposed, that she is 14 years of age. Her mother resides in Grafton-street, Fitzroy-square, and she herself was servant to the prisoner, who is a married man. On the night of the 13th of March, the prisoner was from h...