Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806)
The first wife of the 5th Duke of Devonshire was a well-known figure in eighteenth century society in England. She was the daughter of Earl Spencer and hence related to the late Diana Princess of Wales. Her mother, Lady Spencer, was both religious and a blue stocking, who was involved in charity work but was also a socialite. She lectured her daughter on proper behaviour, but wished her to marry well. On her 17th birthday, Georgiana made a splendid marriage with the very wealthy William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. However the marriage proved unhappy. He and Georgiana were temperamentally incompatible. She was warm, affectionate, and lively, and informal in her ways. He was serious, introverted and seemed cold to his young bride.
He had like most men of his class had mistresses prior to his marriage and took care of an illegitimate daughter Charlotte Williams, by one of them. Georgiana however seemed to be unable to produce the heir to the dukedom and since the estate was entailed, this was a disaster. She became pregnant at times but miscarried. Eventually she had 2 daughters, Georgiana (usually known as “Little G) and Henrietta (HarryO or Harriot and called after Georgiana’s beloved sister, Henrietta Spencer, later Lady Bessborough). But the marriage was in trouble because of Georgiana’s increasing addiction to gambling and spending too much. It was an age where the aristocracy did indeed lose huge sums of money across the card table. She had other qualities, such as a warm heart, a concern for the poor, and unusually for a woman at the time; she involved herself openly in Whig politics, supporting the radically minded Charles James Fox and campaigning for him at election. She spent a lot of money on charities, particularly in the Chatsworth area, and she beautified the house. She was an intelligent if volatile woman and took up various interests, such as collecting geological specimens, painting and she wrote a novel “The Sylph” which was published anonymously. It describes something of her own life and her husband’s indifference to her. In it, she makes the remark that it was generally felt that a woman of good breeding should not expect public displays of affection from her husband. If she met with private tenderness, she should be satisfied.
She was goodhearted and a loving mother, but her marriage was increasingly unsteady. Into their life in 1782, came the impoverished Lady Elizabeth Foster, separated wife of an impecunious Irish gentleman. She was short of money and in danger of social ostracism because of her being at odds with her husband. He had retained custody of her two sons and did not allow her to see them for years. Georgiana became very fond of her and she invited her to live with her and the Duke and a warm friendship developed. So with some justice, Georgiana might have said that there “were 3 people in her marriage”.
Lady Spencer was dubious about her daughter’s new friend. Other people disliked “Bess” as a social climber who was using Georgiana. However, the Duchess seemed genuinely fond of her friend and happy to have her nearby. And as time passed, Bess attracted the attention of the Duke, who became her lover. Georgiana did not seem to mind this, but it is not clear if she was initially aware that at various times, Bess became pregnant by the Duke and bore him 2 children. The Duke took great trouble to ensure that the pregnancies were concealed by various stratagems and Bess had to go abroad give birth. Georgiana seems to have known of her husband’s affair, but didn’t find out about the birth of the 2 children, Caroline St Jules, and Augustus Clifford until later on. Both children were eventually looked after by their father and mother.
In 1790, Georgiana finally produced the male heir to her husband’s titles and estates, William George Spencer, the Marquis of Hartington (Known as “Hart”), and later the 6th Duke of Devonshire. She had finally done her duty as an aristocratic wife.
After this, Georgiana fell in love with Charles Grey who was later the Earl Grey -who was the primary mover in the passing of the Reform Act which increased the voting population in 1832. She had produced a son; so many husbands would have looked the other way if their wives had then taken a lover. The Duke of Devonshire, in spite of his own infidelity, was not willing to tolerate Georgiana’s affair. He was more incensed when it resulted in another pregnancy. Some aristocratic men overlooked their wives producing younger children who were not their own, provided that the wife had given birth to a male heir or preferably two. Devonshire insisted that Georgiana conceal her pregnancy and give up the child to the Grey family. Divorce and disgrace threatened. She had to go abroad to have the baby, and then travelled for some time, waiting for her husband to give a sign that he forgave her. Bess stood by her friend and helped her in the difficult months she spent abroad, wondering if she would ever be allowed home to continue with her marriage and see her other children. Her child was a daughter, who was given the name of Eliza Courtney and was brought up by Grey’s parents.
The friendship between all three in the arrangement seems to have been genuine. The Duke probably found Bess easier to deal with than his volatile, dramatic and extravagant wife. Georgiana was happy that her husband had a companion he loved and it made her life easier if he was involved with her and not with other women. Bess also kept the marriage glued together, trying to reconcile Devonshire to his wife’s extravagances. Bess was probably the most self-seeking of the trio, since she needed the protection of the Devonshires to keep her in comfort and to “cover” her in her position as a separated wife. If their triangle had broken up, while her husband was still alive, she would have been in a very vulnerable position. Separated from her husband and her sons, without much money, and not overly popular in society, she would have found it hard to find another protector. However after her husband finally died and left her free, there were rumours that she was at times going to marry various other men.
Georgiana’s debts however were so heavy that the Duke at times threatened separation... and eventually she did tell him something of the vast amounts of money she owed. Her health began to fail and her looks faded when she had an abscess in her eye that caused her to lose the sight of it. She spent less time in society and more time at home at Chatsworth, living as a country lady with her husband and children. She was a very devoted mother. Her children, particularly the daughters, hated Bess Foster and viewed her as an interloper. There were tensions in the home. As Georgiana’s health worsened, it seems as if her fear of her husband’s anger at her debts and inability to confess their extent to him, was increasing her stress levels to the point where she became more and more sick. But she wanted to live until her daughters were married and her son was old enough to do without her. She must have realised that if she died, Bess, now a widow, would marry Devonshire. In 1806, she died, in acute pain, probably from gallstones and was deeply mourned by her husband, family, friends and children and by the general public. She was buried at Chatsworth. Bess Foster married the Duke 2 years later, by which time Georgiana’s two daughters had married. Her stepson, the 6th Duke, was kinder to Bess than his sisters had been. He never married.
She was a popular figure in Georgian Society and in Whig history, the beautiful glamorous and volatile charmer who won hearts and enjoyed to the full the pleasures that her society afforded, while also being good to the poor and working for reform. In later years, her ménage a trois with the Duke and Bess Foster attracted attention as an example of the liberal or licentious aristocratic mores of the 18th and 19th Centuries. There were many women of the upper classes, who produced children who were not fathered by their husbands, or who took in their husband’s illegitimate children and helped to rear them. She was an example of the limitations and freedoms that an upper class woman of that era had to contend with in her life and how some women artfully balanced the liberties against the weaknesses and lack of legal powers. Georgiana has attracted a number of biographers and her life was portrayed on screen in the film “The Duchess”.
