Tuesday 16th December 2014 ko 19.45

Southern League Division One Central

GODALMING TOWN 3 (Mazzone 17 Wheeler 25 Connell 36)

BEDFORD TOWN 3 (Liversedge 40 52p 55)

Att 103

Entry £8

Programme £2

Badge £3.50

Most true it is, I dare to say,
E’er since the Days of Eve,
The weakest Woman sometimes may
The wisest Man deceive.

Pope/Pulteney

There’s no escaping the fact that the Surrey town is well-to-do. Whether its the 138 listed buildings in the town, or the world-famous Charterhouse School, the area oozes gentility. A famous son was Jack Phillips, the radio operator on the RMS Titanic who refused to desert his station even when the vessel was in the final throes of its sinking.

Altogether stranger was the curious case of maidservant Mary Toft who convinced the town that she had given birth to rabbits! In 1726 eminent physicians examined her and the story caused a national sensation. Eventually Toft was found out after a porter was caught smuggling a dead rabbit into her chamber, and she confessed to inserting at least 16 rabbits into herself to “enable” their birth! The resultant public mockery, not least by satirist William Hogarth created panic within the medical profession and ruined the careers of several prominent surgeons, but Toft escaped without charges being pressed. Continue reading →