Georgiana Quentin, Harriette Wilson, and the Memoirs of “Mrs. Q”

Abstract

In this essay, a persistent confusion in Regency-era history between two women-- Georgiana Lawrell Quentin (1784-1853) and Harriette Wilson (1786/8-1845)-- is addressed, and its source is uncovered. Georgiana Quentin was an army officer's wife and prominent in Regency society; as "Mrs. Q," she was notoriously satirized as a mistress of King George IV in a string of caricatures during 1820-21. The source of her confusion with Harriette Wilson, a famous courtesan of the same time, was a pseudonymous 1822 pamphlet that purports to be Mrs. Quentin's "Memoirs." The pamphlet is shown to be entirely fictional, written for political purposes; whether or not Georgiana Quentin was actually a mistress of George, Prince of Wales, is impossible to determine.