Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

Georgiana Spencer
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1775 The Devonshire Collection
Born	(1757-06-07)June 7, 1757
Died	30 March 1806(1806-03-30) (aged 48)
Spouse	William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire
Children	6th Duke of Devonshire, Lady Georgiana Cavendish, Lady Harriet Cavendish, Eliza Courtney
Parent(s)	1st Earl Spencer Margaret Georgiana Poyntz

Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (June 7, 1757–March 30, 1806), born Georgiana Spencer, was the first wife of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and mother of William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Her father, John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, was a great-grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Her niece was Lady Caroline Lamb. Among the descendants of her family are the present Duke of Devonshire (via her granddaughter), Diana, Princess of Wales (born Lady Diana Spencer), and Sarah, Duchess of York (via her illegitimate child Eliza Courtney).

Biography

Lady Georgiana, and her siblings, Lady Henrietta Frances and George John Spencer, by Thomas Lawrence, c. 1780

"THE DEVONSHIRE, or Most Approved Method of Securing Votes", by Thomas Rowlandson, 1784

Georgiana was a celebrated beauty and a socialite who gathered around her a large circle of literary and political figures—a salon. She was also an active political campaigner in an age when women's suffrage was still over a century away. Both the Spencers and the Cavendishes were Whigs. Georgiana campaigned for the Whigs—particularly for a distant cousin, Charles James Fox—at a time when the King (George III) and his Ministers had more direct influence over the House of Commons, principally through their power of patronage. During the 1784 general election, the Duchess was rumored to have traded kisses for votes in favor of Fox and was satirised by Thomas Rowlandson in his print "THE DEVONSHIRE, or Most Approved Method of Securing Votes".

Famously, when she was stepping out of her carriage one day, an Irish dustman exclaimed: "Love and bless you, my lady, let me light my pipe in your eyes!", a compliment which she often recalled whenever others complimented her by retorting, "After the dustman's compliment, all others are insipid."

Husband and children

Joshua Reynolds: Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire, 1786

Georgiana married the incumbent Duke of Devonshire on June 6, 1774, one day before her seventeenth birthday. The marriage was a brilliant but unhappy one, with the couple mismatched by temperament. (The Cavendishes' marriage was satirised in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play, School for Scandal, where a young wife from the country, Lady Teazle, is beguiled by fashionable people.) The young Duchess's early childlessness was also a matter of concern when aristocratic wives were valued as much for their fertility as for their dowries and connections. She had numerous miscarriages before finally giving birth to two daughters, before the much-awaited heir (and only son) was born. This son William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (1790–1858) died unmarried. Her daughters were Georgiana Cavendish (1783–1858), who married George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle (1773–1844), and Harriet Cavendish (1785–1862), who married Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville.

It was Georgiana who introduced the Duke to his mistress and second wife-to-be, Lady Elizabeth Foster. "Bess" was Georgiana's best friend, and she tolerated the ménage à trois for many years. Georgiana herself formed a relationship with Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, by whom she had a daughter in 1792, Eliza Courtney. (See the entry on Eliza Courtney for two poems attributed to Georgiana.)

Lady Elizabeth Foster had two children by the Duke—a son and daughter. When the Duchess died, her husband married Bess Foster. At his death, his son by his first wife Georgiana became 6th Duke but died unmarried. He was succeeded by a first cousin once removed William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire (1808–1891), who was widower of the 6th Duke's niece and Georgiana's granddaughter Lady Blanche Howard.

Fashion and debt

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Thomas Gainsborough, 1787 The Devonshire Collection

Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire, by Joshua Reynolds, c. 1780-1781

Georgiana is famous not only for her marital arrangements, her beauty and sense of style, and her political campaigning, but also for her love of gambling. She was reported to have died deeply in debt, even though her own family, the Spencers, and her husband's family, the Cavendishes, were immensely wealthy. She died on 30 March 1806, aged 48, from what was thought to be an abscess of the liver; she was buried at All Saints Church, Derby, England.

During her years in the public eye, Georgiana was painted by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough's famous painting of her in a large French hat was lost for many years. It had been stolen from a London art gallery by Adam Worth then somehow restored to Agnew's Art Gallery by Allan Pinkerton of the American detective agency Pinkerton's. It turned up again at Sotheby's a decade ago and was purchased by Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire for the Chatsworth collection. Georgiana managed to keep a “natural relationship” with the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette; the similarity of the lives they led is often observed.

Another well-known woman from the same family as Georgiana was Diana, Princess of Wales (born Lady Diana Spencer), who was descended from Georgiana's brother, the 2nd Earl Spencer.

Georgiana Cavendish in popular culture

School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan was based, in part, on Georgiana's marriage.

Film portrayals

File:The dutchess movie.PNG

Promotional poster for The Duchess

• The Duchess (2008), played by Keira Knightley. The film, directed by Saul Dibb, is based on the biography Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman.

• The Divine Lady (1929), played by Evelyn Hall.

• Mrs Fitzherbert (1947), played by Mary Clare.

Ancestry

Family of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

16. Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland 8. Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland 17. Anne Digby 4. John Spencer 18. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough 9. Anne Churchill 19. Sarah Jennings 2. John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer 20. George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret 10. John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville 21. Grace Granville, 1st Countess Granville 5. Georgina Carolina Carteret 22. Robert Worsley, 4th Baronet 11. Frances Worsley 23. Frances Thynne 1. Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire 24. Newdigate Poyntz 12. William Poyntz 25. Mary Parkyns 6. Stephen Poyntz 26. Stephen Monteage 13. Jane Monteage 27. Jane Deane 3. Margaret Georgina Poyntz 28. John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt 14. Lewis Mordaunt 29. Elizabeth Carey 7. Anna Maria Mordaunt 15. Mary Collyer

Titles

• Miss Georgiana Spencer (1757–1761)
• The Hon. Georgiana Spencer (1761–1765)
• Lady Georgiana Spencer (1765–1774)
• Her Grace The Duchess of Devonshire (1774–1806)

Further reading

• Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, Amanda Foreman (1998) ISBN 0-00-655016-9
• Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, Brian Masters, Hamish Hamilton, 1981.
• Georgiana, The Earl of Bessborough (editor), John Murray, London, 1955.
• The Two Duchesses.., Family Correspondence relating to.., Vere Foster (editor), Blackie & Son, London, Glasgow & Dublin, 1898.
• An Aristocratic Affair - The life of Georgiana's sister Harriet, Countess Bessborough, Janet Gleeson, 2006, ISBN 0593054873
• Portraits of Georgiana by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Romney, Cosway and others.
• Extra material not included in Amanda Foreman's book

References

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