Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a confidence trickster.

1827

W. Clarke Every Night Book xi: No one, if he attends to us, will ever start a lark, be fleeced by a shearer, or get caged by a Charley.

2. (Aus.) a bookmaker.

1902

Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Oct. 14/3: The shearers’ wives were, as usual, the most gorgeously dressed at the Caulfield Cup. None of the sassiety swells can come near the bookies for ostentation.