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Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Bankside lady n.

also Bankside beauty, ...wench

[Bankside, on the south bank of the Thames at Southwark, the centre of London prostitution during the 17C]

a prostitute.

1614		Jonson Bartholomew Fair V iii: Leander I make a dyer’s son, about Puddle-wharf; and Hero a wench o’ the Bankside.
1630		T. Randolph Muses’ Looking-Glass II iv: Come, I will send for a whole coach or two of Bankside ladies, and we will be jovial.
1635		R. Brome Sparagus Garden III i: I had once a hope to have bought this Mannor of Marshland [...] to ha’ made you a Bankeside Lady.
1674		T. Duffet Epilogue Spoken by Heccate and Three Witches 35: Bank-side Maulkin thrice hath mew’d, no matter If puss of t’other house will scratch, have at her.
1820		‘Peter Corcoran’ ‘King Tims the First’ in Fancy 42: And Bankside beauties have I seen, / Sit drinking rum in little boats.