Room 2D

Part 2 from Janus 15 by Richard Manton Writer Richard Manton (the pseudonym of a well-known novelist) continues his recreation of just one day in the life of James Miles, the factual Master of the Hoo Union Workhouse at Rochester, Kent during the 19th century. This compelling, obsessive yet authentic account, closely based on records of the time, takes one deep into the world of workhouse discipline for girls and raises many topical questions relating to right-wing moves to get corporal punishment put back on the statute books.  Part one  of The Man with the Golden Rod appeared in Janus 14. When, as James Miles, you were acquitted at your trial, the justices were clearly on your side. Off you go, they said. Birch those young reformatory trollops long, hard, and often. Did you suspect that the justices had a vested interest in the verdict? No? What a trusting sort of chap you are. The French revealed the truth in such Edwardian hooks as  Etudes sur la Flage...

Part 1 from Janus 14 by Richard Manton In January 1841, James Miles made headlines for the first time in the  Morning Chronicle . When charged with excessive use of birch and cane upon the bare bottoms of girls in his care, the justices laughed the case out of court at Rochester sessions. Mr Miles went on from strength to strength, supported by disciplinarians, press, and the justices — traditionally allowed to come and watch girls under the birch. As late as 1897, his colleague, the Rev Marshall Vine, supported such disciplinary zeal. It was still customary to give 36-stroke birchings in reformatory institutions, Vine insisted. ‘And I have done so,’ he added proudly in his evidence to the Parliamentary Committee. In our own time there is a groundswell of opinion, in the polls and in parliament, which favours the return of judicial chastisement. What would it be like? How would the system work? Is it quite as edifying as its supporters suggest? Perhaps before we give it ou...

Three cases of the illicit thrill A historical piece from Janus 20 by Richard Manton. Read these two confessions from blushing brides and one from a young married couple. Then decide if the statements are: (a) Fantasies of deluded readers (b) Stories made up in the  Janus  office (c) Cases cited by a medical authority ‘I found I could bear any number of strokes with the cane on my buttocks. Although my heart beats with fear whenever I have to strip and lie over the table, it has also made my married life complete and happy.’ ‘ I’ve been aware of this streak in me ever since school, where I actually began to enjoy my punishments. My husband would be terribly shocked if he knew about this.’ ‘ We keep a thin cane in the wardrobe and she bends over the chair… It leaves us eager to get to bed.’ If you opted for (a) or (b), go at once to the bottom of the class. The cases are quoted verbatim in  Sexual Stimulation in Marriage  (1971) by S. J. Tuffill, Fello...