MISERABLE YOUNG GIRLS

Three of the notable English criminals of the 18th century were women, whose names are remembered after all these years for their unbridled cruelty towards young apprentice girls. Probably the woman most often mentioned is Elizabeth Brownrigg, but she was not alone in the task of making the lives of her three young apprentice-girls pain-racked and utterly miserable.

In fact, it was a time when young apprentices bound to masters and mistresses suffered much abuse from those who had virtually absolute control over them. All over London and beyond young boys and girls were being beaten, starved and otherwise ill-treated as they worked at their arduous tasks. In the case of Mrs Brownrigg, at least, the apprenticeship was a farce; the girls she acquired learned no trade, they were mere domestic drudges. And few suffered as did the girls working for Elizabeth Brownrigg, except perhaps those employed in another part of London, in the service of Sarah Metyard. With the aid of her daughter, also called Sarah, this woman was almost, but perhaps not quite, equalling Mrs Brownrigg's feats of savagery.

We do not know a great deal about Mrs Brownrigg's early life. We do know, however, that she was married to a house painter, or perhaps plumber, James Brownrigg, and that they lived for a time in Greenwich, probably for about seven years.

Eventually the Brownriggs moved into Fleur-de-Lys Court, which ran between Fleet Street and Fetter Lane, London. James Brownrigg prospered, at least for a time, and the couple had numerous children. They even had a holiday cottage at Islington. However by the time the sixteenth and last child arrived the family fortunes were in decline again. They now 'lived on credit,' according to The Gentleman's Magazine, so Mrs Brownrigg took up work as a midwife in order to supplement the household's meagre income. By about 1765 she had been appointed midwife to the poor women of the parish workhouse at St Dunstan's-in-the-West (a church still standing).

AN AFFECTIONATE PARENT?

Mrs Brownrigg did well in this work, which was apparently satisfactory to the parish authorities. According to The Gentleman's Magazine the lady was respected for her 'great skill and humanity . . . a faithful wife, and a tender and affectionate parent.' In time she even began advertising for private patients. This work, too, prospered, and Mrs Brownrigg decided she now needed domestic help.

Unwilling to pay out good money for extra servants, she sought out girls from the local authorities. They were readily available and, besides, there was an added incentive; the parish fathers would actually pay a sum of £5 for every girl taken off their hands! They had so many to find places for. So Mrs Brownrigg approached the officers of both the Precinct of White-friars and the Foundling Hospital asking if they could send girls to her as apprentices.

Two girls were soon supplied, bound as apprentices to the midwife. From White-friars came Mary Mitchell and from the Foundling Hospital came Mary Jones. We do not know their ages but it was quite common at that time to apprentice girls anywhere from as young as 8 until they were perhaps 15. The average age was around 12 or 13. There was yet another aspect to this choice of servants. Usually such girls had no families, nobody to worry about their well-being or ask awkward questions if they went missing. As it later transpired, one girl did have someone, not a blood relative, but a person concerned enough to inquire further when her suspicions were aroused.

Mrs Brownrigg's behaviour is in some respects puzzling. At first she appeared to treat both girls decently, giving them only light tasks. This period lasted but a month. If they were thankful for having found a good home their appreciation must soon have turned to dismay. In a short time a strange change came over the woman who was their mistress, as if some latent streak of sadism, long dormant, had been fired into action now that she found herself mistress of two young and helpless females.

They were soon to find themselves being reprimanded for the most trivial of offences and within weeks of their arrival in the house were being physically chastised, often with great cruelty, usually being beaten over the head and shoulders with a hearth-brush or a cane.

PARTICULAR HOSTILITY

Mary Jones in particular seemed to arouse the greatest hostility in Elizabeth Brownrigg and the girl soon found herself being actively persecuted day and night. It was later reported that she slept in a hole under a dresser in her employer's bedroom, where she could be watched in case she tried to escape.

In the matter of punishment, often inflicted, it soon became common for Mary to find herself being tied down naked across two chairs in the kitchen, while her mistress lashed her bare back unmercifully with a whip, until the woman gave up from sheer exhaustion. If the poor girl fainted away cold water was thrown over her. On some occasions she would be released from her bonds only to be taken up and have her head thrust into a bucket of water. She was then sent back to her exhausting work.

Meanwhile neither Mrs Brownrigg's husband or children dared interfere with their mother's punishments. In fact, far from interfering, her eldest son John seemed to share his mother's nefarious activities and was known on some occasions to assist the woman by inflicting his own measure of pain on the two young girls.

By now it was clear that a strong streak of sadism dominated Elizabeth Brownrigg. Perhaps it had been hidden before, lying dormant, but at last it had seemed to develop a life of its own as first one torment, then another, was heaped upon the two apprentices. Not only did they suffer beatings and other indignities but they were worked very long hours, always closely watched by either Mrs Brownrigg or her sons, especially the elder. At night they were kept under lock and key, their only exit from the house being via a stout street door.

Sometimes they were compelled to sleep on the floor or in the cellar. And one aspect of Mrs Brownrigg's sadism took the form of frequently finding one excuse or another to strip the girls naked. They were sometimes forced to sleep that way, with little else to keep them warm through the night. And, as we shall see later, they even found themselves working (or being beaten) embarrassingly naked before the gaze of the males of the household. And even when they had a dress on they usually had to work bare-footed, even in mid-winter.

Varied were the many torments were suffered by the apprentices. On one occasion, according to testimony given at the later trial, the family went off visiting and the girls were left locked in the cellar for twenty-four hours with one piece of bread between them and no water.

But Mary Jones, the most cruelly treated one, was by now plotting an escape. One night her chance came. In the street door the key had been turned but not, as was the regular custom, removed from the lock, and Mary decided to try to flee the house of horrors. She lay awake on her straw mattress for hours and finally, when all was quiet, she fled the house, inquiring her way to the Foundling Hospital.

Here she was taken in and a surgeon was asked to examine her. He found many terrible wounds on her body. There were festering sores, long left unattended and repeatedly broken, evidently from the beatings, and she had nearly lost the sight of one eye. Her shoulders, head and other parts of her body bore the marks of abuse. The Governors of the Foundling Hospital were concerned and now instructed their solicitor to send a note to James Brownrigg demanding a full explanation for the girl's condition. They threatened prosecution if no satisfactory answer was forthcoming.

NO ACTION TAKEN

Mrs Brownrigg, a person of intelligence, if twisted, cunningly decided that her husband should simply ignore the note rather than make answer. Her judgment proved accurate. The Governors, hearing nothing further, quietly let the matter drop, fearing too much unwanted publicity if a case were pursued. There had at that time been other stories circulating of apprentices being abused. The Governors did, however, order Mr Brownrigg to attend a hearing into Mary's apprenticeship. As a result the girl was discharged from her bondage and when her wounds were sufficiently healed she left the Hospital. It is not known what became of her after that; nothing more is known as to the girl's subsequent life.

Meanwhile in another section of London, a cruel pair of viragos, Metyard by name (given as Meteyard in some accounts), mother and daughter, both called Sarah, were busy torturing apprentice-girls also, in their premises in Bruton Street, Hanover Square. At least they had apparently begun doing so at this stage. Their story has not been chronicled with as great detail as the Brownrigg case. The Metyards conducted a haberdashery (or millinery) business with 'five unhappy parish apprentices' slaving for them. The girls had come to work for them from several different parish workhouses.

The Metyard apprentices were confined in a tiny room, described as 'a little slip about two yards (2 m.) wide at one end and comes off like a pennyworth of cheese [i.e. even narrower at the other end],' said one witness in court.

One young girl, Anne Naylor, aged 13, was a sickly child and unable to turn out the required amount of work, so was treated with even greater severity than the others. Driven to desperation by hunger and ill-treatment, like Mary Jones, she too ran away, leaving behind her sister. Unfortunately for Anne, she was caught and brought back to face punishment. This took the form of being shut away in solitary confinement in a garret for a period, being given only a small piece of bread and a jug of water each day.

Anne, when opportunity presented itself, again escaped. She managed to reach the street unseen, where she ran into a milkman. She begged him to help her, saying she was being starved to death. The milkman failed to do anything; in fact, some accounts say he recognized the child and returned her to her tormentors. In any event, the younger Metyard woman now arrived on the scene and laid hold of the girl, dragging her back to the house.

She was again taken up to the garret, where the mother stripped her naked and threw her onto the bed, while the daughter beat her viciously with a broom handle. The punishment was continued until the daughter was exhausted. The girl was then taken to another room and bound with her hands behind her back and a cord around her waist, being then secured to a door in such a manner than she could neither sit nor lie down but could only stand or squat.

She was kept in this unhappy position for three days and nights. Thereafter she was released to sleep at night but tied again in her uncomfortable position during the daylight hours. And throughout this whole period she was given no food at all. The Metyards made a point of drawing the attention of the other four girls to the fate of Anne, as a warning of what might happen to them if they tried to escape.

A YOUNG GIRL DIES

After some days poor Anne, exhausted from the beatings, the lack of food and her inability to sit or lie down, succumbed from her long ill-treatment and died. Her body slumped in its bonds, one of the other apprentices finding her thus. On hearing the girls cry out the younger Metyard hastened to the room and began attacking the dead girl with her shoe, thinking she was feigning collapse.

When she realized what had occurred she became alarmed and called her mother. They removed the body to the garret, later telling the girls that Anne had revived. To keep up the pretence they even took a tray of food up to the garret at midday. After four days of subterfuge they contrived to pretend that the girl had run off again. When one of the other apprentice girls was sent up to the garret 'to fetch Anne down' she was certainly missing.

Her body had in fact been hidden and now the two criminals were concerned about her sister, who had meanwhile remarked to a lodger in the house that she did not think Anne had run away; she had seen some of her clothing in the garret. The couple, now panicking, proceeded to kill the sister too. Soon the two bodies began to smell so the pair then cut them up and carried the pieces to West Smithfield, where they intended disposing of the remains in an underground stream. But they were careful to sever a hand from one of Anne's arms as she had lost a finger at the workhouse and could be identified by this.

They found, however, that the stream was covered with a grating and they finally left the body portions lying in the mud. This is one account given; another says that they tried to throw the parts into the stream but that they fell in front of the grate. Whatever actually happened, discovery was made that very night but a coroner's inquest decided that the limbs were those of a body dug up from a grave and used for medical experiments and directed that the remains should be burned. That was the end of the matter.

The parish authorities believed the story when they were told that the two Naylor girls had run away and so the other three apprentices were condemned to continue their miserable existence for another four years. But Mrs Metyard was not as careful as she should have been, for she beat and ill-used her own daughter at times and the girl finally parted company with her and went off with a lodger, a Mr Rooker. The mother was incensed and followed her and daily became more abusive and threatening. Although the younger Sarah had gone to work initially as a servant with Rooker, he soon seduced her and she became his mistress. Then, to get away from her mother, they moved to a new address in Ealing.

DAY OF RECKONING

On a fateful day, June 9, 1768, the mother, having once again located them, in a fit of temper, the woman picked up a heavy object and belaboured her daughter. As the two quarrelled, Rooker heard accusations fly about that disturbed him. When the mother had departed he questioned the younger woman. She confessed the truth but pleaded with him not to tell the authorities. However the man felt he must do so and soon the whole sordid story had been revealed.

At length the daughter turned informer, trying to cast all the blame on her mother. The younger woman claimed she 'had no share in such horrible cruelties' as were described in court. Mrs Metyard was, in fact, in all probability insane, unlike Mrs Brownrigg, who was cold-bloodedly sane. But the daughter did not escape punishment. Both appeared at the Old Bailey and went to their deaths at the hands of the hangman ten months after Mrs Brownrigg, on July 19, 1768. Their bodies were left hanging on the gibbet, then given to the surgeons for dissection, as was the custom.

Meanwhile in the Brownrigg household Mary Mitchell had found herself in the unenviable position of being the sole apprentice, but if it might be expected that her employer would now be especially careful, for fear of arousing more trouble with the authorities, it was not to be. Mrs Brownrigg now turned her sadistic attentions to the remaining girl, who was to suffer for another year. The many degrading punishments once meted out to Mary Jones were forthwith inflicted on Mary Mitchell.

Dressed only in flimsy rags, she was compelled to work long hours and given meagre food, usually the leftovers from the family table. Life was now an endless round of misery for her. On one occasion she made an attempt to escape but was caught in the act by one of the younger sons. Her punishment on this occasion is not recorded but was doubtless severe.

Meanwhile Mrs Brownrigg applied to the Precinct of White-friars for a replacement apprentice. The officers there were not aware of the fate of the girl from the Foundling Hospital so they gladly supplied another victim, this time Mary Clifford by name. If the other two Marys had been badly treated it was nothing to the cruelties now heaped upon the new girl. Why she should have merited such abuse is unknown. She was by any account neither specially plain nor specially beautiful, nor was she coquettish.

The chief mode of assault on Mary Clifford was to strip the girl naked and hang her by the wrists from a beam in the kitchen. She would then be beaten with all manner of implements, ranging from a hearth-broom, through a leather horsewhip, to a thin cane. Kept hanging painfully in her bonds for a lengthy period while the beating continued, the girl would eventually sag into a senseless state of oblivion. After this she would be thrown to the ground to recover. This terrible scene might be repeated several times each week.

LYING COLD ON MAT

A chronicler of the time made an oblique reference to the girl being a bed-wetter. This is not surprising considering the harrowing life she led. He wrote: 'The poor girl, having a natural infirmity, her mistress would not permit her to lie in a bed, but placed her on a mat in a coalhole that was remarkably cold.' The chronicler, evidently writing after the trial in the Old Bailey, continued:

After some time, however, a sack and a quantity of straw formed her bed, instead of the mat; but during her confinement in this wretched situation she had nothing to subsist on but bread and water; and her covering, during the night, consisted only of her own clothes, so that sometimes she lay perished with cold.
On a particular occasion, when she was almost starving with hunger, she broke open a cupboard in search of food, but found it empty; and on another day, being parched with thirst, she tore down some boards in order to procure a draft of water. These acts of what were deemed daring atrocity by her inhuman mistress immediately pointed her out as a proper mark for the most rigourous treatment; and, having been stripped to the skin, she was kept naked the whole day, and repeatedly beaten with the butt-end of a whip.

In the course of this barbarous conduct Mrs Brownrigg fastened a jack-chain round her neck so tight as almost to strangle her, and confined her by this means to the yard door, in order to prevent her escape, in case of her mistress' strength reviving, so as to enable her to renew the severities which she was inflicting on her; and a day having passed in the exercise of these most atrocious cruelties, the miserable girl was remanded to her cell, her hands being tied behind her, and the chain being still round her neck, to be ready for a renewal of the cruelties the next day.
Determined then upon pursuing the wretched girl still further, Mrs Brownrigg tied her hands together with a cord, and, fixing a rope to her wrists, she drew her up to a water-pipe, which ran across the kitchen ceiling, and commenced a most unmerciful castigation, but the pipe giving way in the midst of it she caused her husband to fix a hook in the beam, and then began hoisting up her miserable victim, she horsewhipped her until she was weary, the blood flowing at nearly every stroke.

Nor was Mrs Brownrigg the only tormentor of this wretched being, for her elder son having one day ordered her to put up a half-tester bedstead, her strength was so far gone that she was unable to obey him, on which he whipped her until she sank insensible under the lash.

NEW PUNISHMENTS INVENTED

As the weeks passed Mary Clifford's agony continued, Mrs Brownrigg always seeking some new way to punish or humiliate her. Mary Mitchell was still being beaten but most of the woman's fury seemed to be directed at the new girl. On numerous occasions, if the girls were found with tears in their clothing they would be stripped naked and kept that way for days on end, being obliged to work thus under the gaze of the husband and sons.

The elder son would, under his mother's instructions, often tie the girls at night, to ensure they did not escape. On occasions they were still naked when tied and they had to sleep as best they could in that manner. On one occasion, when Mrs Brownrigg left off whipping the Clifford girl, John took over and continued her punishment. Mrs Brownrigg inflicted other cruelties on her charges. One such was to seize Mary Clifford by the cheeks, and force the skin down violently with her fingers, causing blood to flow from her eyes.

There was at this time a foreign lady, visiting from France, lodging in the house and Mary Clifford appealed to her for help. It proved to be a fatal mistake. The woman pleaded her case with the girl's mistress but this only roused the virago to even greater fury. In a wild rage she took up a pair of scissors and made a vain attempt to cut the tongue from the poor girl's head, succeeding only in wounding her in two places instead.

In July 1767 Mary Clifford's stepmother came to London and inquired of the parish officers as to the well-being of her step-daughter. They directed her to Mrs Brownrigg's house, advising her that the lady was a midwife known to them for her work and thus Mary was fortunate, being in a good home situation! It seems that Mrs Brownrigg cunningly sized up the situation when, through a curtain, she spied the lady waiting at her door. Her husband was told not to let the woman in under any circumstances. A dispute broke out on the doorstep, Mrs Clifford being turned away, much to her amazement.

AGONIZED GROANS HEARD

But a neighbour, Mrs Deacon, heard the commotion outside the house and called the newcomer over to her home. When Mrs Clifford told her what had happened, the lady advised her that she and her husband had often heard deep agonized groaning on the other side of the wall separating the two houses. They did not believe in interfering with the lives of neighbours but they did suspect that both apprentices were being ill-treated. Certainly the girls were never seen outside the house and were never heard to sing at their work. They were also aware that one girl had escaped earlier.

When Mr Deacon arrived home the three discussed the situation, deciding they would have to tread carefully if they wanted to learn the truth. They could not openly accuse the Brownriggs of evil doings without proof. Eventually the Deacons agreed to keep watch on the house, while Mrs Clifford went back to her lodgings.

Soon after this encounter James Brownrigg acquired a pig and put it in a glass-covered outhouse. Previously the neighbours had not been able to see into the area because of the covering but with the pig there now Mr Brownrigg decided to remove some of the glass to let in air. The Deacons' housemaid, a curious girl, watched the pig from time to time and one day as she peered into the place where the pig should be wallowing on its bed of straw she saw instead, to her horror, what looked to be the naked body of a young girl.

It was Mary Clifford and she was, in fact, still alive but she lay unmoving, her back bleeding and her body fouled with pig excrement. She had once again been beaten into unconsciousness and had been thrown into the pigsty. The Brownriggs had evidently forgotten about the glass they had removed.

Soon the Deacons and other neighbours were called to view the scene. Then they called Mrs Clifford and one of the overseers of St Dunstan's was contacted. Eventually a party, including more overseers, arrived at the door of the Brownrigg home and demanded that Mary Clifford should be produced.

Elizabeth Brownrigg was apparently absent, but her husband rose to the occasion, refusing to admit them and offering to produce Mary Mitchell instead, claiming Mary Clifford was not there. She had, he said, been sent to the country with two of his own children, as they had been all been ill. While the party sent for a constable Brownrigg managed to spirit the girl, still unconscious, from the pigsty into a section of the house where she was well hidden. In this he succeeded, as no girl was found by the searchers other than Mary Mitchell.

SHRIEKED WITH PAIN

By now the parish officials realized they had a major scandal on their hands and decided to convey Mary Mitchell with them from the house, ignoring all protests from Brownrigg. At the workhouse they now removed the girl's clothing, such as it was, and her body was carefully examined, while she recounted her bitter experiences. She was covered with ulcerated sores and when a leathern bodice was taken off, she shrieked with pain. It had stuck to the wounds.

The listeners heard Mary's story in stunned silence. She told them what had happened to the Clifford girl just a few days before, on July 13. Their mistress had taken her once again into the kitchen and stripped her naked, suspending her by the hands to a hook above her head, then commenced beating her unmercifully, although by now the girl's head and shoulders were well covered with sores from previous beatings and her body, arms and thighs bore still open wounds.

She thrashed the girl up and down her back, from her shoulders to her buttocks, until her body was red raw. Then she untied her and forced her to wash off the blood, which was streaming down her body, in a tub of ice-cold water. She was immediately suspended by the arms and beaten again, the whole process being repeated five times on that one day. The Mitchell girl had been forced to witness this brutal treatment.

Mary also told her hearers that when their mistress was beating them, they were ordered not to cry out. If they did they received further punishment, the beating continuing until they maintained silence. Mary Mitchell told her audience of other forms of ill-treatment, described by chroniclers of the day as being 'too vile to print'. This strongly suggests that the girl was violated sexually, perhaps both by Mrs Brownrigg and possibly John, the elder son, who seemed to have a special interest in proceedings. But she was sure Mary Clifford was still in the house, hidden somewhere. At this news the group set off once again, determined this time to locate the girl. The date was August 3, just three weeks after that day of fearful torment Mary had suffered.

IMPRISONED IN CUPBOARD

Arriving at the door the party demanded that Brownrigg produce the girl. The spokesman, a Mr Grundy, one of the overseers of St Dunstan's, persisted. There was a standoff, Brownrigg sending for his solicitor! The battle of wits continued for some time, the solicitor endeavouring to intimidate Mr Grundy into giving up. But Mr Grundy was not to be turned aside and eventually and reluctantly, the group were ushered into the dining-room. There a small hidden cupboard was indicated, in which the girl was imprisoned.

The chronicler of old commented: 'Words cannot describe adequately the condition of misery in which the unfortunate girl was found to be on her being examined. Medical assistance was immediately obtained, and she was pronounced to be in considerable danger.' Curiously, efforts were made by one of the Brownrigg children to put shoes on the girl's feet at the last minute, as if that would remove some of the guilt. The girl was, in fact, by now literally dying. Shortly after this James Brownrigg was arrested and taken to the Wood Street Compter. Meanwhile Mrs Brownrigg and her eldest son had got wind of proceedings. After the crowd had left the house they crept in, gathered up as many possessions as they could and quickly left the neighbourhood.

When news of Mrs Brownrigg's escape reached the authorities it was determined to bring James Brownrigg to trial, charged with being guilty of violent assaults. Within days Mary Clifford, languishing in St Bartholemew's Hospital, was dead, her body at death being described as 'one continual ulcer, ready to mortify.' A surgeon who attended the girl reported that there was a ring around her neck, which was swollen. This was probably caused by the jack-chain which had been used at one stage to secure the girl to a door. A coroner's inquest was held and a verdict of wilful murder was brought against both Brownriggs and the elder son, John. Altogether the three girls had suffered through a period of about two years.

By now the community at large had become aware of the awful doings in Fetter Lane through the news sheets and a cry went up for the apprehension of mother and son. It is believed they disguised themselves at one stage but eventually a man, in whose house they had lodged, gave them away and they were arrested.

The trial of the three was held at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Hewitt and lasted for eleven hours. The evidence produced horrified the city and angry mobs gathered outside the court buildings in Newgate Street. On September 12, 1767, Elizabeth Brownrigg was found guilty of murder. Her husband and son were found guilty of 'grave misdemeanour' and were held over for further trial, eventually being sentenced to six months' jail each. Mrs Brownrigg was sentenced to be hanged. While awaiting her end it is reported she confessed 'the enormity of her guilt.' On September 14, two days later, Mrs Brownrigg was taken from her cell and conveyed by cart to Tyburn.

Along the route a huge jeering and cursing mob gathered. A Wesleyan chaplain, the Reverend Mr James, recorded the fact that outside the jail were carts 'principally filled with women.' There were always many women present near the guillotine in Paris. At Tyburn itself huge crowd had gathered to watch her die.

Shortly after her last breath the body was cut down and conveyed by coach to Surgeons' Hall, where it was dissected. Her skeleton was exposed in a niche at Surgeon's Hall at the Old Bailey 'that the heinousness of her cruelty might make the more lasting impression on the minds of the spectators.'

 

Note to webmasters: This and any of the TRUE TALES may be republished on the Web without reference to me, provided the following is attached: '© Mark Owen - http://www.felicity.com.au'

 Go back to Index of True Tales