The Georgian prostitutes: exotic and erotic.

©FSRH J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2010: 36(2) Society prostitution Logic, science and a whole new range of philosophies arrived in Great Britain alongside George I who ascended the throne in 1714. There were more than 50 Catholics who had a greater right to the throne than George, but Britain would not tolerate another Catholic – however close to the throne. The non-English-speaking German was less interested in intellectuals than in gunpowder, cannons and his two mistresses, one of whom was tall and the other as round as a barrel. This new king was hugely entertaining to the general public, it seems, and somewhat alarming to the English Court. However, the libertine behaviour of many courtiers was widely known. In fact, Georgian society was probably when prostitution was at its most prolific. This is a period when courtesans could become duchesses and some did. Amy Lyon – who later became Emma Hart, a “posture moll” – would strip for an audience and then pose as required or allow herself to be whipped. Well documented are the wild dinners for men with drinking, gambling and, according to one account, balancing wine glasses on the mons veneris (mound of Venus) of a “posture moll”. Apparently this lewd public behaviour didn’t put off suitors, as Emma Hart later would become Nelson’s Lady Hamilton.