Jane Douglas ( – 10 June 1761), commonly known as Mother Douglas, was a brothel-keeper in mid-18th century London. Known at the time as "The Empress of the Bawds", her house 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 ...

attracted customers from the higher echelons of society.

Early career

Mother Douglas was born around 1698 or 1704 to a well-to-do

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

family named Marin(e). She had three sisters and at least one brother, but nothing more is known of the family. By the time she was 17, she was already working as a

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 ...

in London under the name Douglas. She worked out of a house in

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

, Piccadilly and was praised by

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...

as "that inimitable Courtesan". She was on intimate terms with many influential people, both men and women, but had a particularly close friendship with John Williams (later 1st Earl FitzWilliam). At some point she took possession of the St James's house and began to work as a procuress, choosing girls for their elegance, pleasant manners, and sexual expertise.

Covent Garden

By 1735, she had moved to

, home to many of the famous

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

s of the time. She took a house in the Little Piazza, to the east of the main piazza on the corner of Russell Street, that had recently been vacated by

Betty Careless Betty Careless or Betsy Careless (–1739, or potentially d. 1752) was a notorious English prostitute and bagnio-owner. Probably born Elizabeth Carless (though she later used the name Mrs. Elizabeth Biddulph), she adapted her name to better suit ...

. As she had done in St James's, she decorated the house in opulent style and hired liveried servants to wait on her customers. The Covent Garden location meant that customers were plentiful. It also had the advantage of being close to the theatres; these supplied a continual flow of beautiful, but poor, actresses—who would supplement their incomes by working for Douglas. The customers coming from the many drinking dens 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 ...

s that surrounded the square were often drunk and rowdy. This led to disturbances at the house, and occasional raids and arrests. In 1741, Douglas moved to the opposite side of the square into the vacant King's Head. This house was much larger, with a garden and running water supplied to the basement. Douglas made further improvements, installing a drain and cesspool, extending the water supply, and renovating the roof, chimneys, and staircases. This house was decorated to the highest standards with fine furniture, china, glass, and expensive paintings adorning the walls. She added a restaurant with liveried waiters to serve the guests. As well as paying high prices to enjoy the luxurious surroundings and hand-picked girls of her establishment, her patrons were able to take advantage of

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

s manufactured by Jacobs in the

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

, presented in a silk bag and with a hefty markup. For those suffering from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

, she supplied Dr. Jean Misaubin's ''pillule''. According to the '' Nocturnal Revels'', her customers included "Prince, Peers and men of the Highest Rank".

Prince William, Duke of Cumberland Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S./nowiki> – 31 October 1765) was the third and youngest son of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ire ...

was a frequent visitor and presented her with some silver plate.

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 ...

often sketched in her house and featured her praying from the window of her house in '' The March of the Guards to Finchley'' and again in '' Enthusiasm Delineated''. Her house was also popular with army officers on leave and the captains of the

East Indiamen East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European Trading company, trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belon ...

. She attempted to maintain an honest house, discharging girls if they were caught stealing, but from time to time she fell afoul of the

Society for the Reformation of Manners The Society for the Reformation of Manners was founded in the Tower Hamlets area of London in 1691.John Gonson Sir John Gonson (died 1765) was an English judge for nearly 50 years in the early 18th century, serving as a Justice of the Peace and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the City of Westminster. Gonson was a supporter of the Society for the Re ...

and his anti-vice patrols, and was arrested. On most of these occasions she escaped with a fine, or by bribery escaped punishment completely, but she did once or twice have to spend time in prison.

Decline and death

Around 1746, her fortunes took a turn for the worse. Her house fell out of fashion with high society and a lower class of customer began to patronise the establishment. Douglas herself became pregnant; the child was thought to be Lord Fitzwilliam's and was the subject of much debate, although Rear Admiral Charles Holmes, another of Douglas' lovers, later turned out to be the father. Additionally, Douglas' health was beginning to fail. By 1759, she was unable to continue business, and the lease on the King's Head passed to a relative, Amelia Douglas. Jane was described as "much bloated by Drink and Debauch...her Legs swelled out of shape...suffering great discomfort". She died on 10 June 1761 leaving a considerable estate. The contents of her house were sold off by her friend, the auctioneer

Abraham Langford Abraham Langford (1711–1774) was an English auctioneer and playwright. Life He was born in the parish of St Paul, Covent Garden. As a young man he wrote for the stage, and was responsible, according to the '' Biographia Dramatica'', for an ...

. Although there was a genuine Mother Cole, Douglas supposedly forms the prototype for Mother Cole in John Cleland'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 ...

'', and together with Langford, those of Mrs. Cole and Mr. Smirk in

Samuel Foote Samuel Foote (January 1720 – 21 October 1777) was a Cornish dramatist, actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager. He was known for his comedic acting and writing, and for turning the loss of a leg in a riding accident in 1766 to comedic oppor ...

's ''The Mirror''.

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

Genuine Memoirs of the Late Celebrated Jane D*****s, Anon. 1756
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Jane 1700s births 1761 deaths 18th-century English businesspeople 18th-century English people English brothel owners and madams English female prostitutes 18th-century English businesswomen