Regency Reader Questions: Carlton House to a Charley’s Shelter

Moniker/Name

Marebear

Source of Question

Reg Rom Book

Your Question

What (if anything) does “Carlton House to a Charley’s shelter” as used sometimes by Georgette Heyer, for example in Cotillion, mean?

Additional comments

I know Carlton House, of course, was the London residence of King George IV, during his Regency. I cannot find any historical reference to a “Charley’s Shelter” and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the phrase outside Heyer. Could this be one of the phrases she made up to catch out copycats?

Thanks for the question, Marebear, and for being a Regency Reader!

This expression is related to gambling odds, and not a Heyerism as I found it in several Regency era pieces including Pierce Egan’s “Life in London”.

Takings, Or, The Life of a Collegian (1821)

Life in London (1821)

A Charley’s Shelter likely refers to a watchman’s box, and Carlton House of course refers to the London home of the Prince Regent. Heyer alternatively uses the expression “Bank of England to a Charley’s shelter”, which is essentially giving someone fantastic odds. I would think it would be akin to the modern expression “100 to 1 odds”.

This was another piece of sporting cant that Heyer picked up on and has since been used in other Regencies, mostly from the 80s and 90s. Because I found limited record of this expression, mostly from the 1820s in sporting related books, I would assume it was a phrase used by sporting types but not necessarily ubiquitous. As Carlton House would soon after be abandoned by Prinny for a more exalted abode, I would assume this expression was short lived.

Rachel Knowles has a great post about watchmen, if you are interested in learning more about the Charleys of the era: Regency History: Georgian watchmen – security on the night-time streets. The post includes some satirical drawing featuring Charley shelters.

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