Fanny Cornforth
Fanny Cornforth, moved to London from the country and made her living as a prostitute. She took a fancy to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and was reputed to have first got his attention by pelting him with peanuts in the Cremhorne Gardens. Larger and louder than life she enjoyed the company of Bohemians, indulging the young artists in return for gifts and favours. With their help she set up a boarding house-cum-brothel and made a good living. She remained Rossetti's companion and housekeeper into old age.
