- Hardcover: 210 pages
- Publisher: The History Press (1 Nov 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0750948124
- ISBN-13: 978-0750948128
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,391,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
'The most notorious blasted rascal in the world' - Lord Chesterfield. The venal and depraved reputation of Colonel Francis Charteris (1675-1732), and the story of his celebrated trial for the rape of his servant girl, one of the most infamous cases of the eighteenth century, became legendary and long survived his death. This book, for the first time, tells the remarkable story of Charteris, and how his servant girl successfully prosecuted the notorious aristocratic rake for rape. His reputation was such that he was obliged to use a false name in order to get female servants to agree to work for him.Ann Bond was engaged through an intermediary, but when her employer began to make regular advances towards her she realised his true identity. She demanded to be allowed to leave, but Charteris raped her and she was whipped and thrown out without her belongings. Most victims would have considered Charteris too powerful to bring to justice, but Ann filed a complaint, and he found himself facing a charge of rape, then a capital crime.
About the Author
Linda Stratmann is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Chloroform, The Crooks who Conned Millions, Gloucestershire Murders and Essex Murders. She regularly gives talks on aspects of the history of crime and lives in London.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Colonel Francis Charteris, liar, cheat, rake and bully, was a man without a single redeeming feature; even his military rank was dubiously acquired. In the first half of the 18th Century his debauched way of life made him a nationally known figure. Alexander Pope ridiculed him in verse, William Hogarth portrayed him in The Harlot's Progress.
Cheating at cards and dice, refusing to pay his bills, forging documents were almost daily occurrences. But it was his insatiable lust for women - preferably well-built wenches from the lower classes - that made him so widely notorious and earns him this patchy biography.
In the early chapters Linda Stratmann recounts a series of scandalous encounters in no particular chronological order, admitting that many of them may be apocryphal but leaving no doubt that what they may lack in precise detail, the broad picture is true enough. Where the book holds the attention is in the central episode - Charteris's rape of a young servant girl, Anne Bond, and his subsequent arraignment at the Old Bailey. The remaining chapters, which deal extensively with contemporary writings for the page and the stage stretch the tale to 175 pages but may test the reader's perseverance.
Cheating at cards and dice, refusing to pay his bills, forging documents were almost daily occurrences. But it was his insatiable lust for women - preferably well-built wenches from the lower classes - that made him so widely notorious and earns him this patchy biography.
In the early chapters Linda Stratmann recounts a series of scandalous encounters in no particular chronological order, admitting that many of them may be apocryphal but leaving no doubt that what they may lack in precise detail, the broad picture is true enough. Where the book holds the attention is in the central episode - Charteris's rape of a young servant girl, Anne Bond, and his subsequent arraignment at the Old Bailey. The remaining chapters, which deal extensively with contemporary writings for the page and the stage stretch the tale to 175 pages but may test the reader's perseverance.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Notorious Blasted Book
19 April 2012
Format:Hardcover
This bloated book is terribly written, it is full of cliches and dangerous falsities. The writer obviously had fun writing it, but should have paid more attention to contexts and reality and relied less on her imagination.
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