Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
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Elizabeth Christiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire was an English aristocrat and letter writer. She is best known as Lady Elizabeth Foster, the close friend of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Elizabeth supplanted the Duchess, gaining the affections of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and later marrying him. Several of her letters are preserved.
Bess in 1787, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds
Elizabeth Foster's second husband, with whom she lived from 1782 on: William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire
Lady Elizabeth with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, by Guérin, ca. 1791
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
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Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she was the first wife of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, and the mother of the 6th Duke of Devonshire.
Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough (18th century)
A young Miss Georgiana Spencer with her mother, Margaret Georgiana Spencer. Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds
With her siblings, Henrietta and George, by Angelica Kauffman, c. 1774. The painting was painted just before Georgiana's marriage to the Duke of Devonshire.
The Duchess of Devonshire by Thomas Gainsborough, 1783.