Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806), née Spencer, wife of William
Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire was a leader of London's high society.
She was a friend of the Prince of Wales and of Charles James Fox, for whose
election in 1784 she campaigned.
Lady Elizabeth Foster, closest friend of Georgiana, later the Duchess of Devonshire. She lived together with the 5th Duke of Devonshire and Georgiana, the Duchess, bearing the Duke two children. After Georgiana’s death she married the Duke.
Georgiana, Countess Spencer - her mother. On the potrait she
is with Georgiana future Duchess of Devonshire as a child.
George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer - her brother
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire.
Angelica Kauffman. Lady
Elizabeth Foster.
Sir Joshua Reynolds. Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire, and Her Daughter. Georgiana,
Countess Spencer, and Her Daughter. George
John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer. Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire. Lady
Elizabeth Foster.
Bibliography:
Elizabeth
& Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses
by Caroline Chapman, Jane Dormer. John Wiley & Sons, 2002.
The
Two Duchesses by Arthur Calder-Marshall. NY. 1978
Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire. By Brian Masters. London. 1981
Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. Modern Library , 2001
The
Two Duchesses-Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire:
Family Correspondence of and Relating to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire,
... Foster, bart., and others, 1777-1859 by Vere Foster. Cedric
Chivers Ltd, 1972.
The
Bachelor Duke: A Life of William Spencer Cavendish 6th Duke of Devonshire
1790-1858 . By James Lees-Milne. 1991.
“When Lady Georgiana Spencer married the fifth Duke of Devonshire in
1774 she was just seventeen. Her ebullience, her charm, her freedom from
aristocratic aloofness, all combined to make her not only the leader of
London’s high society but one of the most popular figures that English
social life has ever produced. However, beneath the brilliant façade
she was afflicted by private sorrows – incurably addicted to gambling,
unloved by her apathetic husband and childless.
Then into her life and that of her husband, came Lady Elizabeth Foster
who was not only to remain her closest friend and confidante for the rest
of the Duchess’s life but also her husband’s mistress. For over twenty
years the three lived together with a harmony only interrupted by Lady
Elizabeth’s departure abroad to give birth to the Duke’s children, and
Georgiana’s own banishment to Europe when she was carrying a baby by Charles
Grey, later to be P rime Minister. The various offspring, legitimate and
illegitimate, made for a complicated nursery.”