Elizabeth Brownrigg

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Elizabeth "Mother" Brownrigg was a notorious English female sadist who torured young women, eventually murdering one of them.

... Mary Mitchell said that Elizabeth “used to tie her (Mary Clifford) up in the kitchen when first she began to be at her, she used to tie her up to the water-pipe, with her two hands drawed up above her head.” For these beatings, Mary Clifford was stripped naked. Elizabeth beat her most commonly with a horse-whip and “seldom left off till she had fetched blood.” It would seem that this phase of beatings had begun in the Spring of 1767 and that it was succeeded by tying the poor girl up to a hook which was put up in the kitchen specially for the purpose. Mary Clifford suffered weekly whippings tied up to this hook. Click here for a woodcut picture of the scene. Mary Mitchell told the court that no one else in the family normally whipped Mary Clifford, although on one occasion John had taken over from his mother. She also testified that Mary Clifford was chained to a door by her neck having attempted to obtain food and drink one night and broken down some boarding. Elizabeth was away for about a week during which time Mary Clifford made something of a recovery although her back and shoulders were covered in scabs and bruises. Elizabeth accused Mary of not doing any work while she had been away and on the Friday morning, once more tied her up to the hook in the kitchen and beat her. She suffered several more whipping sessions during that day and was left naked through the day and the night. ...

Elizabeth Brownrigg