Betty Careless

Betty Careless or Betsy Careless (c.1704–1739) was a notorious prostitute and later bagnio-owner in 18th-century London. Probably born Elizabeth Carless (though she later used the name Mrs. Elizabeth Biddulph too), 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 for the popular culture of the day.

Biography

She was born around 1704 in London. Nothing is known of her early life, but she was an established courtesan by the 1720s. Initially under the protection of the barrister Robert Henley (later Lord Chancellor), by 1729 when she opened her own house in Tavistock Row she was attached to Sir Charles Wyndham (later Earl of Egremont). 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 recalled seeing her as 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".