“The ‘rabbit-breeder’ hoax could be read as an eloquent political protest”
Ellie Cawthorne: In 1726, a woman named Mary Toft perpetrated an extraordinary hoax that lasted several weeks and captured the imagination of the British public. What did it involve?
Karen Harvey: Essentially, Mary Toft claimed to have given birth to rabbits – an extraordinary claim that was supported by several people for several weeks. It turns out, of course, that it didn’t quite happen as described because, spoiler alert, women can’t gestate rabbits.
The trigger for the whole hoax was an incident that occurred when Toft, a poor agricultural day-labourer, was working in a field near Godalming in Surrey. She spotted a couple of rabbits and decided to chase one. Although she failed to catch it, the idea of that rabbit wouldn’t leave her head. Toft was pregnant at the time and a short while afterwards, she reported undergoing what was clearly a miscarriage. This went on for some weeks, and when it was concluded, she experienced a seemingly ‘monstrous birth’ in which she began to pass strange animal parts. Various doctors examined Toft, and then transported her to London for further study. She stayed there for a few weeks, during which time she
