Laetitia Pilkington

01 December 1708 - 29 July 1750

The fame of the eighteenth-century Irishwoman LP as a memoirist—often thought of as a courtesan memoirist and writer of secret history—has obscured her very considerable merit as a poet and satirist.

BirthName: Laetitia Van Lewen
Self-constructed: Mrs Meade
Married: Pilkington
Pseudonym: A Lady

Milestones

Probably December 1708 or January 1709

Laetitia Van Lewen (later LP ) was born in County Cork, her parents' eldest surviving child.

This was several years before the date she gave herself (1712), which has therefore been generally accepted.

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

1: 12; 2: 370, 576

1744-5

LP perhaps offered a volume of Memoirs to a publisher for the first time.

Pilkington, Laetitia. “Introduction”. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington, edited by A. C., Jr Elias, University of Georgia Press, 1997, p. xv - lxii.

xxiii

13 June 1747

LP 's Memoirs, volume one, was first advertised in Dublin.

Pilkington, Laetitia. “Introduction”. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington, edited by A. C., Jr Elias, University of Georgia Press, 1997, p. xv - lxii.

xxiii

Probably by 3 March 1748

LP 's Memoirs, volume one, was in print at Dublin.

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

2: 749

By 22 June 1748

The first London edition of LP 's Memoirs was published, following the Dublin edition by about three months.

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

2: 751-2

By 17 December 1748

The subscription edition of LP 's Memoirs, volume two, was in print at Dublin, a year after the first advertisement for it.

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

2: 754

23 November 1749

LP 's Memoirs, volume three (still unfinished), was advertised in Dublin.

Pilkington, Laetitia. “Introduction”. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington, edited by A. C., Jr Elias, University of Georgia Press, 1997, p. xv - lxii.

xxiii

29 July 1750

LP died in Dublin: as a result, said her son Jack , of chronic digestive problems and a heavy cough. She probably had ulcers

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

2: 740

Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

June 1754

LP 's Memoirs, volume three, was posthumously published by her son John Carteret Pilkington , in London.

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

2: 757

Biography

Probably December 1708 or January 1709

Laetitia Van Lewen (later LP ) was born in County Cork, her parents' eldest surviving child.

This was several years before the date she gave herself (1712), which has therefore been generally accepted.

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

1: 12; 2: 370, 576

Her elder brother died in infancy, and she was an only child for a number of years before her younger brother and sister were born.

Pilkington, Laetitia. Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington. Editor Elias, A. C., Jr, University of Georgia Press, 1997, 2 vols.

2: 370