Miss Georgette Alexandra Madill was born in St Louis, Missouri on 15 March 1896.

She was the daughter of George Alexander Madill (1838-1901) and Elisabeth Walton McMillan (1868-1956), both natives of Pennsylvania who had married on 13 February 1895.

Her father was a distinguished jurist of Irish heritage and Georgette had two half-brothers from his first marriage to Julia Peck (1840-1893); George (1867-1889) and Charles (1873-1916). Her mother Elisabeth was the daughter of clergyman John Quincy McMillan (1826-1882) and his wife Elisabeth Catherine Walton (1832-1923), natives of Chester, South Carolina and Virginia respectively.

Georgette appears with her parents on the 1900 census as a resident of 4140 Lindell Boulevard in St Louis. Her father George died the following year on 11 December 1901. 

Her mother was remarried on 3 January 1904 to Edward Scott Robert (b. 31 October 1858), a lawyer originally hailing from Albemarle, Virginia who had been a close associate and friend of her father and a pallbearer at his funeral. The family continued to make their home in St Louis, appearing on the 1910 census as residents of 4140 Lindell Boulevard before her mother was widowed for the second time on 13 December 1911. It appears that Georgette may have, according to her 1919 passport, been living in Britain from 1911.

Georgette and her mother, hoping to quell their sorrows, decided to take a vacation to Europe. For their return to America they boarded the Titanic at Southampton as first class passengers (ticket number 24160 which cost £211, 6s, 9d). Travelling with them was her maternal cousin Elisabeth Walton Allen (the daughter of her aunt Lydia, née McMillan) and her mother's maid Emilie Kreuchen and. Georgette and her cousin occupied cabin B5. 

Georgette was rescued with her mother, Elisabeth Allen and their maid Emilie in lifeboat 2.

Georgette was not disturbed by her experiences on Titanic and travelled extensively as part of her active work for the Red Cross; in 1917 she set off for a trip to Japan and China and in 1919 made a journey to Siberia.

During peacetime in the early 1920s, she travelled around Europe extensively visiting Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Greece and Britain.

She remained close to her mother and continued to travel across the Atlantic frequently with her; in September 1932 they were both passengers aboard the Olympic. She was still shown travelling the USA as late as 1956, the year her mother died. Her 1917 passport describes her as standing at 5' 7" and with blonde hair, hazel eyes, a fair complexion and medium features.

Georgette was married in London in October 1931 to Alfred Joseph Anthony Alexander Gilbert Bagshawe Mattei (b. 16 November 1902, better known as Anthony Bagshawe Mattei).

Mattei, 2nd Marchese (Marquess) Mattei, was a London-born barrister of Maltese heritage; he was the son of Marchese Dr Alfred Mattei (1853-1930), a barrister from Valetta, and Teresa Bagshawe (1869-1943). His mother came from a prominent Catholic family and was the daughter of Judge William Henry Gunning Bagshawe and he was the nephew of noted marine artist Joseph Ridgard Bagshawe.

During the WWII he served as a Captain with the Intelligence Corps and was awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 1944.

Georgette and her husband remained childless and made their home in affluent areas of London; during the 1940s they were residing in Chelsea and in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as per electoral registers, they were residents of 34 Montpelier Square, Westminster.

Georgette reportedly became grossly overweight in later years, in contrast to her husband who has been described as "pencil thin."  She predeceased her husband when she died on 14 February 1974 aged 77.  She was buried in Clevedon Cemetery, Old Church Road, North Somerset (Section B, Plot 102).   Her widower Anthony died in Hove, Sussex on 26 September 1992, he was cremated at Weston Super Mare crematorium and his ashes were buried with her.