In August 1730, a London newspaper report claimed a Somerset man was under arrest for cruelty to his wife. The article did not name the man but identified him as the local pig-gelder in Bridgwater in the county’s north.

According to the report, the accused man was:

“..in the company of several other married men [and] over a pot of ale they all joined in complaint of the fruitfulness of their wives… [and asked the gelder] whether he could not do by their wives as by other animals; he said he could and they all agreed their good women should undergo the operation.”

The man returned home, probably drunk, and proceeded to gag and bind his wife. He laid her on their table and made an incision in her belly but became reluctant to proceed after finding:

“..there was some difference between the situation of the parts in the rational and irrational animals… he [sewed] up the wound and was forced to give up the experiment.”

Source: London Journal, August 22nd 1730. 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.