The Duchess: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Amanda Foreman

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these qualities and yet be so much on show. "The Duchess of Devonshire effaces all," he wrote a few weeks after her arrival in London. She achieved it "without being a beauty; but her youth, figure, flowing After marrying the Duke, Georgiana was constantly out on the town, shopping, going to plays, and of course, exploring the notorious “pleasure gardens” where sex workers, actors, and the upper classes mixed and mingled. But Georgiana didn’t have to go out to party: Her wildest nights were spent at home, where she attempted to soothe her pain with alcohol and high-stakes gambling. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 54. Georgiana wrote desperate letters to her mother, begging for advice about how to entice her husband. She even tried to join in on his hobbies—but he’d rather go hunting with the boys. She also emphasized her young wifely virtue—but the Duke preferred to gamble all night. Just a few months ago, Georgiana was the most eligible woman in England. Now her own husband barely looked at her.

Her absence from English society and exile in France had isolated Georgiana and was a low point for her in every respect; she returned to England, a "changed woman". The Duke began suffering from gout, and she spent her time at his side nursing him. Along with a recent miscarriage, this circumstance with her husband brought about a softening and closeness between the two. She took a positive interest in science, took up writing again (producing two more works), and even continued her political activism while trying to rebuild the Whig party (to no avail before its end). [6] [7] Georgiana also came to meet and become friends with the wife of her former lover, Charles Grey. [6] The Duchess played a key role, with Thomas Beddoes, in formulating the idea of establishing the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol. [29] Her efforts to establish the Pneumatic Institute, which advanced the study of factitious airs, is an important event that provided a framework for modern anesthesia as well as modern biomedical research in gasotransmitters. In 1786, Susanna Rowson, who went on to become a bestselling author, dedicated her first published work, Victoria, to the Duchess of Devonshire.But their fear led them to hatch an ingenious plan. They secretly pushed the wedding two days earlier than the official date and moved it to the local church. No one would ever expect such a high-profile ceremony to take place in the neighborhood chapel. Beauty — A natural compliment", The Every-day Book and Table Book. Vol III., ed. William Hone (London: 1838), p. 344. Retrieved on 11 June 2008. she, she read Lord Chesterfield's Letters to His Son; and knowing of his interest in history and the classics, she began several books on ancient Greece and on the reign of Louis XIV, "for as those two periods Lithographic plate from 'The Passage of the Mountain of Saint Gothard' drawn by Lady Elizabeth Foster

Paulson, Ronald. Emblem and Expression: Meaning in English Art of the Eighteenth Century. London, 1975: 216, pl. 148. Historians believe that the Duke’s distaste for Georgiana can be chalked up to three factors. First, he was naturally cold and unresponsive. Second, husband and wife were very different (but kudos to Georgiana for at least trying to conne Artwork representing the Duchess of Devonshire by reputable painters of the Georgian era remain, including a 1787 portrait by the famed Thomas Gainsborough which was once thought lost. Two days before her wedding, Georgiana woke up to a nasty surprise. She wasn’t getting married in 48 hours; she was getting married today. Because there hadn’t been an official Duchess of Devonshire in a good long while, the public eagerly awaited the marriage ceremony, and Georgiana’s parents feared that the church would be mobbed with crowds. After nine years of marriage, the Devonshires would celebrate the birth of their first child, Georgiana (1783-1858) known as Little G, who was followed two years later by Harriet (1785-1862), known as Harryo. The sisters were joined by a brother William, known as Hart, who would become the 6th Duke of Devonshire (1790-1858) in 1790.But if he was a professional then why was the hairdresser listed alongside the servants? His inclusion in this list shows how often the Duchess called upon his services, so much so that he was paid a regular, yearly wage. Although he was not a servant in the same way a housemaid or footman was, there were a number of similarities between the hairdresser and the rest of the servants employed by the Duke. Georgiana was well-travelled , visiting France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland and wrote about her experiences of the woods, Alps and lakes, the discomforts of travel and the dangers of robbers and bandits. Her poem ' The Passage of the Mountain of Saint Gothard' was inspired by these events. Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 89.