In August 1605, a Bridewell court considered a charge of prostitution levelled against a widow named Fanny Heaven. The Crown’s main witness was a local bookseller, Olliver Sleepe, who testified about a conversation he had with a customer named Richard Adlington.

According to Sleepe, Adlington boasted of his sexual liaisons with Fanny Heaven, describing her as:

“..an arrant whore and he had spent 20 pounds on her… and she wore nothing on her that he had not paid for, not so much as the ruff about her neck… The said Richard laid his hand voluntarily on a Bible and swore by it that he had the use of the said Heaven’s body above 20 times carnally, and might do so as often as he pleased.”

Fanny Heaven was cross-examined and admitted to three sexual encounters with Adlington. She was found guilty and convicted of “whoring”, publicly whipped then set free. Adlington, who was married, was not punished by the court, though he was subject to public ridicule.

Source: Bridewell Court minute books, vol. 5, folio 51. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.