Gullible Georgians: the hoaxers of the Enlightenment era and their social dynamics

In a new episode of HistoryExtra's 'History Made in Britain' podcast series, historian Dr Madeleine Pelling of the University of York, drawing on her book 'Hoaxers: A Curious History of Belief', discusses the hoaxers of 18th-century Britain's Enlightenment era. This period was a transition in which the public's habit of newspaper reading was spreading and being directed toward scientific curiosity, but in which a mature critical-thinking infrastructure had not yet developed.

One of the most famous episodes was Mary Toft's claim in 1726 that she had given birth to rabbits in Surrey. Toft, who lived as a peasant woman in the village of Godalming near Witney, suddenly drew the attention of the London press with the claim of 'giving birth to seventeen rabbits'. In the podcast Pelling said, 'The Toft case showed that despite the Enlightenment's encouragement of the public to question, critical scrutiny of bizarre claims was still inadequate.'

Royal Surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers was sent by the Court to examine Toft and corroborated the events. The episode showed how easily royal medical authorities could be deceived with false claims; Toft later confessed she had fabricated the events and served a short jail term. Ahlers's career largely came to an end. Several of the 1726-1727 'art-science' engravings depicting what were supposed to be the rabbit bones Toft lived through are on display at the British Museum.

The second major case was William Henry Ireland's attempt to forge Shakespeare documents (1795-1796). A 17-year-old printing apprentice, Ireland sold a series of documents claiming to have 'discovered' lost manuscripts of Shakespeare. Ireland's father, the famed antiquarian Samuel Ireland, turned the supposed documents his son had found into the theatrical play Vortigern. At its first-night staging at Drury Lane, the play was met with audience laughter; the following day William Henry disclosed the forgery offence.

The third notable case was Princess Caraboo (1817) — an English servant named Mary Baker who claimed to be a princess kidnapped from Indonesia. Baker had arrived in the village of Almondsbury, near Bristol, speaking a made-up language. The episode ran for several months and gained entry to several aristocratic homes and scientific societies.

Pelling explained that the common features of these episodes were certain challenges of Enlightenment culture. Hoaxers generally moved around with the discourse of 'scientific discovery' or 'natural wonder'; newspapers did not investigate much before quickly spreading these stories. After the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, principles of scientific examination were spreading slowly.

Newspaper historian Prof Hannah Barker (University of Manchester), in commentary on HistoryExtra, said, 'The hoaxers' success was directly connected to the rapidly spreading news-newspaper culture. The public's habit of critical reading had not yet matured.' By the end of the 18th century, the number of daily newspapers in Britain had exceeded 50; mechanisms to balance press freedom and censorship had not yet formed.

In terms of the Enlightenment's observation-experiment methodology, hoaxers form interesting cases for historical researchers. Cambridge University history-of-science Prof Simon Schaffer, in the podcast, said, 'Hoaxers are useful cases for examining how the scientific method was put in place and how false claims were eliminated. For example, the Toft case drew the attention of major scientists like Hans Sloane and led to the development of observation methods for diagnosing fakes.'

In terms of hoaxing literature, Enlightenment-era hoaxers are also an important source for satire and critical thought. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726, the same year as the Toft case) addressed false claims as parody. Hogarth's engravings visually documented the psychology of public deception.

In terms of present-day resonance, Pelling's research emphasises parallels with the 21st century's 'fake news' and social media era. 'The imbalance between the speed at which information spreads and the time required to distinguish true from false was no less acute in the Enlightenment than today; only the technology was different,' Pelling said. This historical perspective recalls the importance of critical media literacy. This article is general history and culture review and contains no political commentary.