Catalogue description Papers of Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757 - 1824)

This record is held by Devonshire Collection Archives, Chatsworth

Details of DF11
Reference: DF11
Title: Papers of Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757 - 1824)
Description:

This small collection consists of personal papers of Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. It should be viewed alongside letters sent to and from the Duchess which are catalogued as part of the 5th and 6th Dukes correspondence series (GB 2495 CS5 and CS6).

The correspondence in the collection includes a small number of letters sent to Elizabeth Cavendish by Lady Sydney Morgan, c.1820; verses sent by Lady Caroline Ponsonby to Elizabeth Cavendish's daughter, Caroline St Jules; and a letter thought to have been sent to Elizabeth Cavendish by Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Lord Holland.

There are eight volumes of later, typescript, transcripts of journals kept by Elizabeth Foster dating from 1782-1799, before her marriage to the Duke of Devonshire.

Finally, there is a single music programme for a performance that was dedicated to Elizabeth Cavendish.

Date: [1782]-c.1820
Arrangement:

The archive has been arranged into the following series:

DF11/1: Correspondence of Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, c.1800-c.1820.
DF11/2: Transcripts of journals kept by Elizabeth Cavendish (originals dated 1782-1799).
DF11/3: Other Papers of Elizabeth Cavendish.

Held by: Devonshire Collection Archives, Chatsworth, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Cavendish, Elizabeth Christiana, 1757-1824, Duchess of Devonshire, society hostess and patron of the arts

Physical description: 1 box
Access conditions:

The collection is open for consultation. Access to the archive at Chatsworth is by appointment only. For more information please visit: https://www.chatsworth.org/art-archives/access-the-collection/archives-and-works-of-art/.

Copies of material in the archive can be supplied for private study and personal research purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents.

Much of the material remains in the copyright of Chatsworth House Trust, but some is also subject to third-party copyright. It is the responsibility of researchers to obtain permission both from Chatsworth House Trust, and from the any other rights holders before reproducing material for purposes other than research or private study.

Immediate source of acquisition:

This is a composite collection. At its core are papers created or accumulated by Lady Elizabeth Foster, later Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, which have remained in the collections at Chatsworth since their creation. There are also some items which have different provenance:

The verses catalogued as DF11/1/3 were purchased by the Chatsworth House Trust in 1984, along with some other letters now forming part of other collections (CS5, CS6, DF4 and DF12).

The letter catalogued as DF11/1/4 was purchased in 2013.

The journal transcripts catalogued as DF11/2/1, 2 and 5 were given to the collection by Lady Dormer in 1991. The exact custodial history of the other volumes is unknown.

Administrative / biographical background:

Elizabeth Christiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, society hostess and patron of the arts, was born Elizabeth Hervey in 1757 at Horringer, Suffolk. Her parents were Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol (1730-1803), and Elizabeth Davers (1730-1800). She was known for most her life as Lady Elizabeth Foster, Bess to her friends.

She spent her formative years in semi-poverty abroad and in Ireland, where her father was the Bishop of Derry. In 1776, she married John Thomas Foster (b. 1747), with whom she had two sons, Frederick (b. 1777) and Augustus (b. 1780). The marriage was an unhappy one and the couple separated in 1780; Foster retained custody of their sons, and did not allow the boys to see their mother for 14 years.

In 1782, while lodging with her aunt in Bath, she met William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, and his wife Georgiana. After only a few weeks of acquaintance she moved in with them. There was much speculation about the nature of their relationship. Foster certainly became mistress of the 5th Duke, and the closest friend and confidante of Duchess Georgiana.

In December 1784 she became pregnant with the Duke s child. Using her health as a pretext, she went to Naples and gave birth in secret to Caroline Rosalie on 16 August 1785. Subsequently travelling to Provence in France, she persuaded the elderly Comte St Jules to accept paternity of Caroline, and returned to Britain in July 1876.

She gave birth to a second child, Augustus Clifford, in France on 26 May 1788. There was some doubt about whether the Duke of Devonshire was the father of this child as Foster was also having an affair at this time with Charles Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond. In 1790, Bess succeeded in having her children brought from France to live in the nursery with the three legitimate Cavendish children.

She accompanied the Duchess of Devonshire in her exile to the continent in the early 1790s, where the Duchess gave birth to Eliza Courtney, her child by Charles Grey, in 1792.

The Duchess died in 1806, making Foster her executrix and sole guardian of her papers. To the outrage of all, Foster married the Duke of Devonshire on 19 October 1809. She was widowed a mere two years later and began living by herself in Piccadilly Terrace, London. Styling herself Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire, she entertained in a regal manner and made several new friends, including Lord Byron.

In 1816 Duchess Elizabeth moved permanently to Rome and began a new career as a liberal patron of the arts, and of archaeologists in particular. Her final years were spent in the company of Cardinal Hercule Consalvi, secretary of state to the Vatican, who shared her passion for the arts. She funded the excavation of the Forum for 11 years, and the city of Rome recognized her efforts with a medal struck in her honour. She died in Rome on 30 March 1824, and her body was interred in the Cavendish vault in Derby Cathedral.

Elizabeth Foster was a witness and participant in Whig politics between 1784 and 1809 and, as Elizabeth Cavendish, an active patron of Rome's classical heritage between 1813 and 1824. Her diaries, although rewritten several times, provide valuable insight into the period. An acknowledged beauty, she was irresistible to a variety of men and women. She was frequently labelled artificial and duplicitous, but she retained the love and trust of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, for twenty-five years, and afterwards the unceasing companionship of Cardinal Consalvi.

Principal source: Amanda Foreman, 'Cavendish [née Hervey; other married name Foster], Elizabeth Christiana, duchess of Devonshire (1757-1824)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). By permission of Oxford University Press.

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