The Remarkable Spencer Woman That Lived Before Princess Diana
When you think of England, and you hear the last name Spencer, one of the most famous women of the 20th century is probably who comes to your mind… Lady Diana Spencer, who later became the Princess of Wales. But, hundreds of years before her time there lived another famous Spencer woman who took English society and the world by storm, much like Lady Di, and her name was Lady Georgiana Spencer, who later became Her Grace Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire.
Lady Georgiana Spencer lived from 1757 to 1806 and she was born at the Spencer family estate in Althorp, Northamptonshire, England, the very same place that her modern day relative, Princess Diana spent much of her youth. Her Father, John Spencer was created the first Earl Spencer and his wife, Georgiana Poyntx, then became the first Countess Spencer making Georgiana a “Lady”.
She became Her Grace, The Duchess of Devonshire at seventeen years old when she was married to the Duke of Devonshire, one of the most wealthy and powerful peers of the realm at that time, as the current Duke still is today. Although it turned out that the Duke and Duchess were not well matched, she originally fell in love with him because he was quiet, much like her own father who she had a very strong relationship with. One can guess another reason she fell in love with the Duke was because he was one of the most eligible men in England and marriage offers from a Duke do not come around often.
As time went on, their marriage became increasingly unhappy, and she became friends with Lady Elizabeth Foster who eventually became a participant in her marriage with the Duke, and upon Georgiana’s death, became the Duchess herself. (During this time, once an heir was produced, it was socially acceptable to have extramarital affairs as long as they were discreet.) The Duchess also had an affair with Charles Grey, second Earl Grey and they had a child together named Eliza Courtney. While she was pregnant, she had to leave society and eventually give up her child, although it was around this time, the Duke also had two illegitimate children with Lady Elizabeth Foster, and they were allowed to be raised alongside his other children. The Duchess would eventually be able to pay visits too, and spoil her daughter Eliza who would later name her own daughter Georgiana.
Although much of her personal life, motherhood aside, was unhappy and resulted in a gambling and drug addiction; perhaps, what the Duchess was best known for and is best remembered for is her larger than life personality, her ability to light up a room, her parties, her fashion and the major political influence she held at that time. Both the Spencer and Cavendish families were large Whig party supporters, and because the Duke held a very elevated position in the Government, he was not very well able to endorse or campaign for Whig candidates. Georgiana took this upon herself and would host major political functions, speak at events and march in the streets to support her candidates. One of the things that best illustrates her political influence was the fact that because of her, the Prince of Wales joined the Whig party, which completely went against what his father, King George III favored. This was at a time where women really had no voice in politics, so to be a woman who had that much influence was really an anomaly for that time.
Just as much as her political influence, Georgiana’s fashion influence changed the way that polite society dressed both at formal events and in everyday life. Georgiana made famous the wearing of Ostrich plumes in her hair, sometimes reaching three feet in height. She also was famous for her sky high hairdo’s (wigs) that would often have small figures on them, such as fish or sheep, etc. Another trend she set was the wearing of a simple muslin dress with a ribbon tied around the waist. Today, whenever you see a depiction of an Englishwomen with a large wig and a plume in their hair, or in a simple muslin dress with ribbon, you can thank the Duchess of Devonshire for being bold enough to bring those famous looks to England.
As one learns about this famous Spencer woman who lived centuries ago, it is remarkable to see how many similarities she and the late Diana, Princess of Wales have. More than just simply coming from the same family and living in the same home, they both were married at very young ages to men with whom they were not well suited. They both had the starry eyed love that young women do when a prince asks for their hand in marriage; but both found themselves in very unhappy marriages where infidelity on both sides was abundant. Both of these women also, probably as a result of their unhappiness, used harmful coping mechanisms. Diana, as many know, struggled with bulimia for years, and Georgiana’s vice was gambling and drinking to extreme excess.
However, on the flip side, we see two incredibly influential women when it came to their causes and their fashion. These women were trailblazers and trendsetters. They were absolutely unafraid to speak out about what they believed, and they were both experts at sending messages through their clothing (let us always remember Diana’s stunning black “revenge dress”). We know that both of these women had a sort of magic about them that was able to command all the attention of any room, and allowed them to be accepted and heard in situations where many women may not have been. It makes one wonder…how much more influential would these women have been had they had a happy home life? Or was it their unhappiness at home that pushed them to go out and make a difference? For those questions, we won’t ever know the answers, but what we can say for certain is that just like her famous and many times over great niece Diana, Princess of Wales, Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire was a Spencer women who was able to change the world, and was a figure who undoubtedly made her time in history.
The World In Georgiana’s Time:
-Two years before Georgiana gave birth to her first Child, the American Revolution had just ended. She married in 1774, so almost all of her early marriage was marked by revolutionary changes in the colonies. Something that was probably not even thought about when she was born.
-In 1767, just as Georgiana was running around her family’s estate, learning to ride horses, speak French and be a lady, a man names Joseph Priestly was inventing Carbonated Water!
-Although nutrition, education and general wealth and welfare has improved exponentially since Georgiana’s time, society had a lot of similarities to today. New breakthroughs in innovation such as John Fitch’s 1786 invention of the Steamboat and Samuel Millers 1777 invention of the circular saw meant that a lot of people were being put out of work because machines could take their place. (Think today of automated gas pumps and grocery store self checkout, two very simple innovations that have taken the place of a person working.) Also, at this time, China was also at the center of the worlds economy because of the exportation of its goods to countries around the world. Tea became the popular drink of every class of society at this time, and silk was highly sought after by the wealthy.
Sources and Options for Further Reading:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/first-lady-of-fashion-georgiana-duchess-of-devonshire
The Duchess Audiobook, By Amanda Foreman