Elizabeth Adkins
| Elizabeth Adkins | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1696 St Giles in the Fields, London |
| Died | 1747 |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Coffeehouse proprietress, sex worker |
| Known for | Co-owning Tom King's Coffee House, Allegedly inspiring Daniel Defoe's novel Moll Flanders |
| Criminal charge | Theft, disorderly household |
| Spouse(s) | Tom King |
| Children | One |
Elizabeth Adkins (1696-1747) was a prominent figure in London's underworld during the early 18th century. She is most famous for being the joint owner of King's Coffeehouse with her husband Tom King, but she also allegedly supported herself as a sex worker and pickpocket. Her aliases included "Mary"' or "Maria Godson," although she is best known as Moll King.
According to The Life and Character of Moll King, late mistress of King's Coffee House in Covent Garden, a pamphlet published anonymously in 1747, Adkins was born in 1696. However, Adkins has been connected in historical analysis to a London criminal named Moll King, and court documents suggest Moll King was born at least twenty years before 1747.The Life and Character of Moll King states that Adkin's father was a shoemaker and that her mother sold fish, fruit and greens in the street. It also suggests Adkins became a sex worker before the age of fourteen.
Adkins was married to a man named Thomas King, known around the area as Smooth'd-Fac'd-Tom, at fourteen, and was linked several years later to William Murray. When this second relationship ended, Adkins befriended with famous courtesan Sally Salisbury and began her own work in the sex trade. During this time, between 1715 and 1720, Adkins began using her aliases, Mary or Maria Godson. She also went into business with infamous London criminal Jonathan Wild, from whom she learned pick-pocketing.
In October 1718, Adkins, referred to in legal documents as Moll King, was arrested for stealing a gold watch from a woman near St. Anne's Church, Soho. She was sentenced to seven years transportation to America, and later, when she was discovered attempting to re-enter the United Kingdom, she was sentenced to death. It is assumed that Adkin's connection with Jonathan Wild facilitated her release.
Adkins returned to her husband King, and the two began a business selling nuts on the street. By 1717, the nut stand had grown into the storefront eventually called King's Coffeehouse. Guests at the coffeehouse included many of London's most famous sex workers, including Mother Needham and Mother Whyburn. Some sources, including The Life and Character of Moll King, insinuate that Adkins continued her criminal business alongside Jonathan Wild while helping her husband manage the coffeehouse. In her parallel life, Adkins became known as Moll King, a notorious loan shark.
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