HOAX: Truth & Lies in the Age of Enlightenment
- Apr 2
- 2 min read
Talk - by Madeleine Pelling
Thursday 22 October
6.30pm-8pm (Doors open 6pm) £27.50
A ghost. A witch. A princess. The History Hit presenter's spellbinding history unpicks the stories of three incredible 18th-century hoaxes.
Here lies Fanny Lynes, whose whispers from beyond the grave set London alight with scandal.
Here swings Mary Bateman, who lived a life of lies – and died a prophetess and murderer.
Here stands Mary Willcocks. Or is it Anne Burgess? Or Princess Caraboo, from the distant island of Javasu?
A ghost. A witch. A princess. This is a story of those who lie. And of those who choose to believe them.
The discoveries of the Enlightenment unsettled as much as they excited. New truths challenged longstanding beliefs.
Rationalism jarred with superstition. Which voices would be heard in this ferocious battle for certainty?
From the chaos, three women and their hoaxes rose as symbols of terror and fascination. But were the lies surrounding Fanny Lynes, Mary Bateman and Mary Willcocks entirely of their own making? Why were the public transfixed?
Questioning culpability and complicity, Pelling’s engrossing history of this great age of the hoax reveals a veiled world of moral panic, tall tales and true crime, and holds a mirror to our own turbulent relationship with truth.
Copies of HOAX: Truth & Lies in the Age of Enlightenment by Madeleine Pelling will be available to purchase at the event.
Madeleine Pelling Madeleine Pelling is co-host of History Hit's popular After Dark podcast and author of Writing On the Wall. She is an award-winning cultural historian, author and broadcaster. A regular contributor for television and radio, she also writes for the Guardian, Independent, BBC History Magazine and History Today, amongst others.
Ticket includes a welcome drink, book signing and a chance to view Dr Johnson's House.
Doors open & welcome drink: 6pm
Talk starts: 6.30pm
Event ends: 8pm
Limited capacity. Early booking advised. A small number of priority tickets have been set aside for members.
Accessibility
There is regrettably no step-free access to Dr Johnson's House.
There are seven steps to access the entrance (with a handrail).
The building is a four-storey townhouse with a staircase between each floor.
There are handrails on each side of the staircase and visitor seating in every room.
Toilets are located down a steep set of stairs.
