Society for the Reformation of Manners Society would pay others to bring prosecutions, or bring prosecutions on its own account. A prominent supporter of the Society was John Gonson, Justice of the Peace and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the City of Westminster for 50 years in the early 18th century. He was noted for his enthusiasm for raiding brothels and for passing harsh sentences, and was depicted twice in William Hogarth's "A Harlot's Progress" series of paintings and engravings. In around 1770, the Society denounced Covent Garden as: The Society sought and gained the patronage of both Church and Crown: John Tillotson, the Archbishop
Cowdray engravings was rendered as a watercolour by John and Charles Sherwin and then engraved by James Basire. Samuel Hieronymous Grimm copied the remaining four paintings which Basire then engraved. The engravings were published in 1788 with a print run of 400 copies, distributed to fellow of the society and sold to the public. Cowdray House burnt down on 24 September 1793 and the paintings were mostly destroyed as the rendering came away from the walls, although some fragments may have survived for a few years after the fire. This left the engravings as the only record. The historian Bernard Nurse considers