This article was originally printed in the Winter 1988 issue of Amelia Now. The description of the search for Amelia Island's namesake remains timeless. Enjoy!

     There's always been some confusion about the Princess Amelia for whom our island was named. Historical accounts frequently identified her as the daughter of George III, the British monarch with whom we're more familiar because of the American Revolution. But Ogelthorpe's letter in which he mentioned naming this island Amelia was dated 1736, and George III wasn't even born until two years later and his daughter, Amelia, about 47 years later.
     George II, on the other hand, had a daughter named Amelia who was born in 1710, so she would have been in her mid-twenties when Ogelthorpe, with great political acumen, named our island in her honor. She's the one, and she wasn't the sister of George III, either, because George III was the grandson, not son, of George II.
     A lot of research needs to be done to find out more about this George II Amelia. Most of what we have was furnished by Joan Lasserre from an encyclopedia.
     "Amelia Sophia Eleanora, born at Herren-hausen (the palace at Hanover, Germany) on 10 June 1710. She was long the intended wife of Frederick the Great, who corresponded with her until his marriage in 1733. At her death his miniature was found on her breast next to her heart. During the life of the king she lived with him and received the homage of the Dukes of Newcastle and Grafton. After the king's death, she had a house in Cavendish Square and another at Gunnersbury. She died unmarried, at Cavendish Square on 31 October 1786, and was buried in Henry VII's chapel, Westminster Abbey, on 1 November 1786."
     When this writer first began local historical research in 1972 for Amelia Island Explored published for Amelia Island Plantation, a resident history buff contributed a picture of Princess Amelia. An article in the Florida Times-Union about this island's history had featured the same portrait of Amelia and credited its source to the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History in Gainesville.
     Probably the reason while this erstwhile student of history accepted the portrait of Amelia without any doubts or double-checks was that she looked the part. She was so pretty! She was made to order for inspiring the name of this beautiful island. For over a dozen years, Amelia Now has featured the pretty lady portrait as "our" Amelia.
     Always looking for new graphics to add interest to Amelia Now, this writer contacted the National Portrait Gallery in London and requested any additional portraits of Princess Amelia, the daughter of George II. A page out of the magazine showing the pretty lady portrait was enclosed with the request. A month later came the devastating reply.
     "The picture in your magazine is definitely not Princess Amelia, daughter of George II. Princess Amelia died aged 75 in 1786 and the lady in the picture wears the fashion of c. 1810. It is more likely that the later lady is another Princess Amelia, daughter of George III, who died 1810, aged 27."

 
The wrong Princess Amelia, daughter of George III.
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The right Princess Amelia, daughter of George II.
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Making such a positive identification on the basis of fashion when there was so little costume showing seemed a bit high-handed. Un-willing to accept that the P.K. Yonge Library, the Times-Union and especially Amelia Now may have committed a historical faux pas, we requested a copy of every one of the pictures of the George II Amelia in order to compare facial features. There were 13 pictures on the catalogue list. Naturally, we requested copies in color.
     A month or so later, we received two color slides with the explanation that no others were available in color. One was Hogarth's "The Family of George II", and the other was Mercier's "The Music Party". The Hogarth painting was so unclear that no close study was practical. "The Music Party", which shows Frederick, the Prince of Wales, with Princess Anne, Princess Caroline (standing) and Princess Amelia to the right was clear, but Amelia's hair was hidden by a cap, and she was too far away for a real good look.
     Shortly afterwards, three black-and-white pictures arrived from London. Two were simply black-and-white copies of the slides above. The third was a portrait of Princesses Amelia, Caroline and Anne when they were young girls. One of the three looked very promising, but there was no identification as to which princess was which.
After more correspondence, we heard back that Princess Amelia was the one at the left of the trio - the promising one. She looked pretty, but you couldn't quite say that she looked like the subject of the "pretty lady portrait".

The three daughters of George II, painted by Maingaud in 1721.
Amelia is at left with Caroline in center and Anne at right.
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     Finally, a nifty lady named Miss Cazzy Neville wrote that she was sending five more black-and-white pictures of the George II Amelia along with catalogue descriptions of each. Two of the five are excellent portraits, which this writer humbly accepts as proof that the picture previously shown in Amelia Now must be the wrong Princess Amelia. The two ladies do not look alike.
     Now let's study our gallery of the "right" Amelia with descriptions from the catalogue. Most impressive is the oval portrait of her head and shoulders with an ermine robe over her shoulders. The original is 223/8 by 185/8 and hangs in Buckingham Palace. It was first recorded at Buckingham Palace in 1876. It was probably painted c. 1740. Artist is listed as anonymous, though it was formerly incorrectly attributed to Hudson.
     The portrait of Princesses Anne, Amelia and Caroline as young girls was painted by Martin Maingaud and signed and dated on the back - 1721. Amelia, looking amazingly mature for 11 years old, is at left; Caroline, the middle sister, is in the center; Anne, the eldest is at right. The catalogue entry states: "Three half-length figures: Princess Caroline, from behind, puts her arm round the back of Princess Amelia on the left and glances up at her; Princess Anne holds at her bosom a rose plucked from a spray over Princess Amelia's shoulder."

Portrait of Princess Amelia, apparently painted in 1738,
is attributed to Jean-Baptiste Vanloo.
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     "The Music Party" was painted in 1733 by Philip Mercier. It depicts Frederick, the Prince of Wales, playing the 18th century version of a cello, Princess Anne playing a keyboard instrument, and Princess Caroline playing something like a lute. To the left, Amelia sits with a book in her lap looking bored by it all. She even has one hand up to her ear as though to shut out the noise!
     The very formal three-quarter length portrait of Princess Amelia is attributed to Jean-Baptiste Vanloo and was painted c. 1738. The entry reads in part: "Three-quarter length, standing in a richly jewelled dress under a royal robe of state, wearing a delicate jewelled ornament in her hair and pointing with her left hand to her coronet." The 50" by 40" portrait is in the Buckingham Palace collection.