Colonel Francis Charteris (baptised 4 April 1675 – 24 February 1732), nicknamed "The Rape-Master General", was a Scottish aristocrat who had earned a substantial amount of money through gambling and t...Colonel Francis Charteris (baptised 4 April 1675 – 24 February 1732), nicknamed "The Rape-Master General", was a Scottish aristocrat who had earned a substantial amount of money through gambling and the South Sea Bubble. He was convicted for raping a servant in 1730. He was subsequently pardoned, but died of natural causes shortly afterwards.
Charteris was born into a well-connected family and baptised in Edinburgh. However, even before his conviction for rape, he was notorious and despised by many in London as an archetypal rake. He had a serial military career, but was dismissed from service four times; the third by the Duke of Marlborough in Belgium for cheating at cards, and the fourth by Parliament for accepting bribes. Despite his military dismissal, he amassed a considerable fortune.
Charteris married Helen Swinton, the daughter of Alexander Swinton Lord Mersington; their daughter Janet, married James Wemyss, 5th Earl of Wemyss in 1720 (indeed, his grandson, Francis Wemyss Charteris, 7th Earl of Wemyss, adopted his mother's maiden name in 1732 when he inherited his grandfather's estates).
Charteris was the inspiration for the characters in William Hogarths paintings, A Rake's Progress and A Harlot's Progress (where he is represented as the fat lecher in the first plate), and in Fanny Hill. He was condemned by Alexander Pope in his Moral Essay III, written in 1733. Parallels were drawn between Charteris' sexual excesses, and the greed of politicians such as Robert Walpole. Some sources say that he was a founding member of the Hellfire Club, although the famous club founded by Sir Francis Dashwood did not start to meet until 1743. He may have been a member of the original "Hell-Fire Club" founded by Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton in 1720. Leslie Charteris, creator of Simon Templar, The Saint, was a later admirer, and legally changed his name from Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin.
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