Betty Careless or Betsy Careless (–1739, or potentially d. 1752) was a notorious English

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

and

bagnio Bagnio is a loan word into several languages (from ). In English, French, and so on, it has developed varying meanings: typically a brothel, bath-house, or prison for slaves. In reference to the Ottoman Empire The origin of this sense seems to ...

-owner. Probably born Elizabeth Carless (though she later used the name Mrs. Elizabeth Biddulph), she adapted her name to better suit her profession. Her name, beauty and reputation made her, like Sally Salisbury before her, something of an archetypal

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

for the popular culture of the day.

Biography

She was born around 1704 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Nothing is known of her early life, but she was an established courtesan by the 1720s. Initially under the protection of the

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

Robert Henley (later

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

), by 1729 when she opened her own house in Tavistock Row she was attached to Sir Charles Wyndham (later

Earl of Egremont Earl of Egremont was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1749, along with the subsidiary title Baron Cockermouth, in Cumberland, for Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, with remainder to his nephews Charles Wyndham, 2 ...

). Wyndham and Careless probably had a mutually beneficial relationship; he lived for free while his society connections ensured a higher-class clientele for Careless's house. In '' Amelia'',

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...

recalled seeing her at a play when she was a young girl. Though, he said, "it was impossible to conceive a greater Appearance of Modesty, Innocence and Simplicity", her beauty disguised her true character. He had seen her a few days before "in bed with a Rake, at a bagnio, smoking Tobacco, drinking Punch, talking obscenity and swearing and cursing with all the Impudence and Impiety of the lowest and most abandoned Trull of a Soldier". Some idea of her reputation can be divined from the graffiti "Prayer" attributed to her in the ''Bog-House Miscellany'' (ca. 1731): "Grant us good lusty Men, ye gracious Pow'rs! Or else stop up those craving Things of ours!", and her inclusion in one of '' Joe Miller's Jests'' in which an admirer compliments her on the perfection of her legs and says they are so alike that they "must be twins", to which Betty replies, "Oh no sir, for I have had more than one or two in between them". By the early 1730s she had reached the peak of her professional career, and she moved to a house in the Little Piazza in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

to try her hand as a bawd. She takes centre-stage in Louis Peter Boitard's 1739 picture ''The Covent Garden Morning Frolick'', in which she is being chauffeured home in a

sedan chair The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...

after a night on the town with Captain "Mad Jack" Montague (who rides on the top of the sedan chair) and a motley assortment of her companions, including her personal link-boy, Little Casey. In

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...

's ''

A Rake's Progress ''A Rake's Progress'' (or ''The Rake's Progress'') is a series of eight paintings by 18th-century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–1734, then engraved in 1734 and published in print form in 1735. The series ...

'' her name is carved on the steps by an inmate in the final scene. According to the notes in the ''Anecdotes of William Hogarth'', this man is William Ellis who was supposed to have been driven mad by his love for Betty. In his essay on

Dr Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary criticism, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicograp ...

Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was an English historian, poet, and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster General between 184 ...

portrays her as the archetypal courtesan, characterising the life of those of "literary character" as precarious, fortunate to be "sometimes drinking champagne and tokay with Betty Careless". Careless, alongside many of the other notorious bawds of the early 18th century, may have inspired Mrs Cole in

John Cleland John Cleland (24 September 1709 – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist best known for his fictional '' Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'', whose eroticism led to his arrest. James Boswell called him "a sly, old malcont ...

's ''

Fanny Hill ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'' – popularly known as ''Fanny Hill'' – is an erotic novel by the English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748 and 1749. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagne ...

''. By early 1735 she had given up her house in Covent Garden ( Jane Douglas took it over); she was drinking heavily and could not duplicate the success she had enjoyed as a prostitute when she attempted to run a brothel. She announced that she would be opening a "Coffee House" in Prujean's Court at the Old Bailey, but she herself acknowledged that the place was ill-situated for her business and in her advertisement practically begged her customers to continue to visit her. ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'' announced in October 1739 that she had been buried from the poor house. Much later, Fielding recorded her epitaph in '' The Covent Garden Journal'':

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Careless, Betty 1700s births 1739 deaths English brothel owners and madams English female prostitutes