Bluestocking Circle
Group formed around a number of wealthy and influential English women during the mid-18th century, to debate literature and the arts, and support female education and writing.
Mary Hobry
French Catholic midwife burnt at the stake in 1688 in London for the murder of her abusive husband.
Stocks
Device used to publicly humiliate those found guilty of minor offences.
Pillory
Device used to publicly humiliate those found guilty of minor offences.
Stool of Repentance
Redirected to cucking stool.
Cucking Stool
Chair used as a punishment for those accused of offences such as drunkenness, sexual impropriety or dishonest trading.
Buttock Mail
Fine payable to the ecclesiastical courts for the crime of fornication, as an alternative to a session on the stool of repentance.
Anatomy Act 1832
Act of Parliament intended to increase the number or corpses available for dissection by medical students.
Jougs
Metal collar formerly used as an instrument of punishment in Scotland.
Branks
Redirected to scold’s bridle.