Harriette Wilson

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Harriette Wilson [1] [2] (nee Harriette Dubochet) (February 22, 1786 – 1845) was a notorious English courtesan.

Her two sisters, Amy and Sophia, also became courtesans, with Sophia marrying respectably into the aristocracy.

Contents

[edit] Life as a courtesan, blackmail

Born in Shepherd Market, Mayfair, England, she was the daughter of a Swiss clockmaker, and started working as a prostitute by age 12. Wilson was an extremely attractive young woman. She began her career as a courtesan at the age of 15, becoming the mistress of William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven, 7th Baron Craven. Among her later lovers was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who is said to have commented "publish, and be damned" when informed of her plans to write her memoirs. [3]

Harriette Wilson's weakness, and her eventual downfall as a courtesan, was her practice of using blackmail to extort from her benefactors. Her opening strategy when she aimed to seduce a man of prominence and wealth was to write him an intriguing letter. After becoming involved with him sexually, she would then turn the tables, indicating to him that she was going to write her memoirs, divulging their affair. Through doing this, often these men of wealth would simply pay her a hefty sum of money to leave them nameless in the memoirs. This strategy was completely opposite to other women throughout history who served as courtesans. Normally, the object was to become involved with two or more wealthy men, remain discreet and at their beck and call, thus giving long life to the affair, and to the financial income.

Her great advantage as a "top" courtesan of the time was based solely on the fact that she had slept with an impressive number of established wealthy men, none of whom were keen on it being known publicly. However, Wilson's purpose for writing was not revenge for a wrong being done, but instead was mere blackmail. Any of her conquests who preferred that their name did not appear in her book could simply pay up. [4]

[edit] Blackmail failures, downfall

The strategy produced mixed results. Many would simply pay her and be done with it. Some, however, simply called her bluff. Harriette's principal mistake short of the blackmail, it seems, was believing that she was appreciated beyond her sexual celebrity, and that those she was closest to valued her as a friend as well as a courtesan, which turned out not to be the case.

The Duke of Argyll, for example, simply transferred his interest seamlessly from Harriette to her sister Amy. The one man with whom Harriette fell deeply in love, John Ponsonby, was involved with her briefly, then left her and became involved with another of her younger sisters, 14-year-old Fanny.

At least three and possibly five of her many sisters were also courtesans, all beginning and often ending as prostitutes, starting at a young age, usually around 12 or 13: only Sophia joined the select few courtesans of whom their aristocratic protectors married, becoming Lady Berwick at the age of 17. In common with most other courtesans, Harriette's economic security depended on her lovers keeping their promises to provide for her even after the relationship ended - which they signally failed to do, due to her betrayal of the unwritten rule of never causing stress to your benefactors' personal lives.

Harriette's attempts to hold her ex-protectors to their word earned her the reputation of "being difficult and a menace", a label that threatened to jeopardise her appeal to potential protectors. A courtesan's success depended greatly on her reliability as being discreet, respectful of her wealthy protector's position and privacy. The unwritten rule was simple: courtesans did not disrupt their lovers' personal or public life. Now that she had done this, her reputation was tarnished, therefore her value was too. As her debts mounted, she proposed the radical solution of blackmail. [5] [6]

It was this tarnished reputation that led to the end of her success as a courtesan and an end to the wealthy men whom she could blackmail, to her eventual downfall, great debt, and her dying in poverty.

[edit] Appearances in literature

Harriette Wilson appears in the Jane Austen mystery novel, Jane and the Barque of Frailty, by Stephanie Barron.

[edit] External links

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