Jane (Mother) Douglas
Jane Douglas (c. 1700 – 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
attracted customers from the higher echelons of society.
Mother Douglas was born around 1700 to a well-to-do Edinburgh family
named Marinet. 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 in London under the name Douglas.
She worked out of a house in St James's, Piccadilly and was praised
by John Gay 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.
By 1735 she
had moved to Covent Garden, home to many of the famous brothels 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. 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
bagnios that surrounded the square were often drunk and rowdy. This
led to disturbances at the house, and occasional raids and arrests.
 |
| Detail from Hogarth's The March of the Guards to
Finchley, 1745 showing Douglas in the window at the bottom
right praying for the safe return of her "Babes of Grace".
Douglas's girls line the other windows and the cats on the
roof indicate the house is a "cattery"; the signboard shows
King Charles |
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 supply
of water, and renovating the roof, chimneys and staircases. This
house was decorated to the highest standards with fine furniture,
china and 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 condoms manufactured by Jacobs in the Strand,
presented in a silk bag and with a hefty mark up. For those
suffering from syphilis, 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 was a frequent visitor and presented her with some silver
plate. William Hogarth 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.
She attempted to maintain an honest house,
discharging girls if they were caught stealing, but from time to
time she fell foul of the Society for the Reformation of Manners, in
the person of Sir John Gonson 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.
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's lovers,
later turned out to be the father. Douglas's health was beginning to
fail too.
By 1759 she was unable to continue business and the
lease on the King's Head passed to a relative, Amelia Douglas. She
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.
Although there was a genuine Mother Cole, Douglas supposedly
forms the prototype for Mother Cole in John Cleland's Fanny Hill and
together with Langford those of Mrs. Cole and Mr. Smirk in Samuel
Foote's The Mirror.
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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