Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (top right) has been a source of fascination since I watched the 2008 film The Duchess. Born in 1757, she only lived until the age of 48, but she had a fascinating life full of drama.

She was the eldest child to Earl and Countess Spencer, and brought up to be an accomplished lady. On her 17th birthday, she married William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. From the outside, it appeared to be a great match, but it soon became clear that the couple were ill suited. The Duke already had a mistress at the time of their marriage, a millener, Charlotte Spencer, who he bore a child with, also named Charlotte.

In 1780, little Charlotte's mother died and so she came to live with the Duke and Duchess. Georgiana had a number of miscarriages, but eventually gave the Duke three children - Georgiana (Little G)(1793), Harryo (1795) and William (1790), who became fondly known as Hart as he was Marquess of Hartington.

The Duke was very reserved, but Georgiana threw herself into fashionable society. She very much led the fashions of the time and was known for her extravagances, such as a three foot ostrich feather in her hair or tall towers of hair. During her lifetime, she racked up quite a large amount of debt from gambling. The Duke discovered the extent of her debts after her death and was said to have commented, "is that all..?".

She did follow her husband's interest into politics and became a devoted Whig supporter. Georgiana led many Whig parties and their residence in London, Devonshire House, became a hub of Whig activity. In 1780 and 1784, Georgiana and her sister Harriet assisted Charles James Fox with his campaigning for elections, but had to take a backseat thereafter as she was accused of exchanging kisses for votes.

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Whilst the publicity was fabricated (we assume!), Georgiana did have an affair with a Whig politician Charles Grey, who later became Prime Minister in 1830. In 1791, she became pregnant with his child and the Duke forced her to give him up or never see her children again. Much to Charles Grey's annoyance, Georgiana chose to stay with her husband and legitimate children. Georgiana gave birth to Eliza Courtney abroad in secret and was forced to give her child to be raised by Grey's parents in 1792. She could never publicly acknowledge her as her daughter but did visit her. Eliza named her eldest child Georgiana in 1817, which may hint that she knew that Georgiana was her mother.

 

Georgiana was part of another scandal after she met Lady Elizabeth Foster on a visit to Bath in 1782. At the time, Bess, as she was more fondly known, was separated from her husband and running out of money to support herself. She was invited to return home with the Duke and Duchess, and soon became indispensable to them both. Bess bore the Duke two illegitimate children, Caroline St Jules and Augustus Clifford, and became, with Georgiana's blessing, the Duchess of Devonshire after Georgiana's death.

Perhaps little known is that Georgiana published a novel entitled The Sylph in 1779 and also wrote a number of poems. Like Jane Austen she never publicly admitted her authorship, but the novel was a success and had four printings. She was an intelligent woman and had a keen interest in science, in particular chemistry. Today at Chatsworth you can see the mineral collection that she started.  

Georgiana had poor health in her final years, and died of an abscess on her liver in 1806 aged 48. She is buried in Derby alongside the Duke and Bess, the strange trio continuing together.

If Georgiana interests you, I would very much recommend reading Amanda Foreman's biography of her which goes into the fascinating detail of her life. I would also recommend visiting Chatsworth, which houses the Gainsborough portrait of Georgiana above and also the unusual portrait below of Georgiana as Cynthia from The Faerie Queen a poem by Edmund Spenser.