On the Duchess of Rutland

"The life she leads is enough to kill her..."

-Lady Clermont to Lady Spencer, 1784

Mother Knows Best

"...but let me take this opportunity, my dear Georgiana, to intreat you to put a total stop to a practice that hurts my feelings because it so greatly injures you.  I mean till your affairs are completely settled not to spend any money (however tifling the sum) idly.  Your finely bound books pain me more than I can describe.  Even the most common books, the rarest print, or whatever may most claim your wishes to purchase, you should steadily deny yourself..."

-Lady Spencer
6 September 1805

Mother Knows Best, Birthday Edition

Tomorrow, my dearest Georgiana, you will have been born 28 years, and yesterday* you have been married 11.  The first of these events was attended with almost every advantageous circumstance that birth could give. and the latter set you up in so elevated a situation that you must always be liable to the censures or approbation of the world.  I bless God it is not yet too late, if you will exert yourself in earnest, of those who know you, and I must add that if you have any regard for your own peace of mind or mine, you will set about doing it immediately.

Lady Spencer
6 June 1785


*In Amanda Foreman's biography of Georgiana she states that the Duchess was married on her birthday, June 7. I am now very curious as to where this confusion came about and how it came about!

Tart of the Week: Fanny Crewe

In the late 18th century there were three main Whig society hostesses, Georgiana, Lady Melbourne, and Mrs. Crewe.  All were good friends and all were considered the ton and members of the Devonshire House set.  All also qualify as tarts!

Frances Anne Greville was born in 1748 to two published authors, into a family with strong political connections, strong ties to the great minds of the time, and kickass girl power.  Who could complain?  Just sit back and absorb all of these connections.  Fanny's mother, Frances Macartney, was besties with Lady Spencer so Fanny and Georgiana most likely knew each other since childhood.  Fanny's Dad, Fulke Greville was besties with Dr Charles Burney, father of Fanny Burney so the two Fannys grew up together and were friends as well.  Talk about friends in all the right places!

With this social upbringing it is no wonder Fanny grew up talking and talking and talking.  All her life she was known as quite the chatterbox.  Georgiana once complained that Fanny had lately been a bit of a sycophant with her and needed to stop cooing over her.  Lady Douglas once stated that Fanny's "ideas came so quickly that [she] could not follow them" and assumed that neither could Fanny!

Fanny was also privileged enough to be considered a great beauty of the time.  Which no doubt helped to attract her husband to her.  She was married to John Crewe in 1766, joining two powerful Whig families together which worked out just perfectly for Mrs. Crewe who quite enjoyed playing hostess.  Her beauty and wit also got Fanny in trouble as well.  She succumbed to an affair with a frequent house guest and cohort of her husband's, Richard Sheridan.  Fox was right when he said "she loved high play and dissipation."

Of course Fanny's well-known beauty was up for debate depending on who you asked.  Fanny Burney said she was so beautiful that she "uglified everything near her."  However, if you asked the critical Lady Douglas she would tell you Fanny was "very fat with a considerable quantity of visible down about her mouth..."  Lady Sour Grapes seemed to not be be impressed with Mrs. Crewe.

Regardless of whether she was pretty or not or whether she was a big mouth or not, Mrs. Crewe's political influence cannot be denied.  She like Georgiana and other society hostesses was the backbone of political causes.  Organizing events to bring together the minds of political factions, participating in elections, and being prominent in public (and also risking reputation) in order to further the cause; Fanny did it all tirelessly.  She died as Lady Crewe (due to her husband's elevation to Baron in 1806) in 1818. 

Mother Knows Best

"...You frighten me about your money matters.  Tell me quickly what it is, but let me scold you beforehand, for either it is a new scrape, which is abominable, or it is an old one, which you are unpardonable for not having told me sooner."

Lady Spencer
27 October 1783

Mother Knows Best

"You have acquired already a reputation as a mother, do not go and lose it for the first little temptation that comes in..."

Lady Spencer to Lady Duncannon
October 1781

Overdraft Fees

With all of Lady Spencer's berating of her eldest daughter you would think she was the only Spencer with skeletons in the closet.  All three of her children had addictions that put them into debt.  Georgiana and Harriet had obscene debts due to their gambling addiction and George's debts pertained to his addiction to books!  Of course the Goddess of Wisdom, Lady Spencer herself, was no innocent, she herself, suffered from a gambling addiction making her no stranger to debt as well.

Mother Knows Best

"Many thanks for your invitation to Althorp, indeed I have a great pleasure in going to see you there or elsewhere sometime or other, but I always resolved not to visit that place till your father's monument should be put up - as I hate to have (what so often has happened) those sort of things talked of and not done."

Lady Spencer to John 2nd Earl Spencer
September 1786

Mother Knows Best

"I see you on the edge of a thousand precipices, in danger of losing the confidence of those who are dearest to you...I see you running with eagerness to those -must I miscall them friends?- Who tho' their intentions might not be wrong, are by constantly talking to you on subjects which are always better avoided imperceptibly your most hurtful enemies, all these and more keep me on the rack."

Lady Spencer
28 June 1782

Country Homes: Althorp

Location: Lincolnshire
Famous Inhabitants: Lady Spencer, Harriet Countess of Bessborough, and of course, Georgiana
Website: www.althorp.com

Georgie, Vicky, and their Overbearing Mothers

This weekend I finally got around to seeing The Young Victoria which was an absolutely dazzling film. I will try not to go on about how everyone should see it or how the acting and costumes were fabulous but I will just tread lightly on a fun discovery.

While looking up images of Victoria, Duchess of Kent (Queen V's momma) I came across this 1821 print on Wikipedia depicting the Duchess and the future queen.


Any Georgiana fans might look at that and go "Hmmm, that looks quite familiar." Why yes, because Joshua Reynolds has one just like it from 1759 portraying Lady Spencer and Georgiana. Interesting, no?


There was actually a few similarities between Victoria and Georgiana when it came to their relationship with their mothers. First of all, they both were named after their mother, with the intention of being their mother's obedient little clone. Both the Duchess of Kent and the Countess Spencer had strong and planned-out aspirations for their daughters, they were both somewhat over-protective, and they both were criticized for it by their contemporaries (you may recall Walpole sarcastically referring to Lady Spencer as the "goddess of wisdom"). Both the Duchess and Countess dearly loved their daughters and wanted the best for them but their stern ways made them seem cold and even unloving. This really backfired on the Duchess of Kent since Victoria would later ground her mother when she became queen. Georgiana, however, always looking to please, always seemed to accept her mother's ways and believe herself a better person for them.

Devonshire Progeny: Caro Ponsonby (Lamb)

One of the pitter-pattering sets of little feet scampering around Devonshire House were those of the future Lady Caroline Lamb. Caro was the youngest child of Harriet, Georgiana's beloved sister. Therefore much of Caro's childhood was spent with Aunt Georgiana, Uncle William and the rest of the Devonshire Progeny.

Caro's odd behaviour, which was to make her notorious, didn't just spring up in adult-hood. There was always something a bit off about the child. First of all, she differed greatly (in fact, she looked impish), in appearance and otherwise, from her two brothers; which is likely due to her actually being their half-sister. Although this cannot be solidly proved, it is a likely explanation for the differing personalities.

The formidable Lady Spencer described her granddaughter as "one of the most difficult children to manage." She was bratty, unpredictable, and needed constant attention or else she would become increasingly difficult in order to achieve it, asking silly questions and so forth. At least one time this earned her a spanking from grandma! Even Georgiana recorded that she was tempted to slap Caro after she was rude to Harriet on one ocassion.

A lovely reader, Kristi, and I have discussed Caroline's unique personality and she brought up how Caro had many autistic traits, which I found to be a brilliant theory and one that made a lot of sense. Once when Caro was a young teen, she was traveling by carriage with her parents. Somehow the party got lost in the dark and like many a family vacation of mine, Bessborough (Caro's er...Dad) got angry at Harriet and Caro for being frightened. Shortly afterward the horses got spooked and while Bessborough went to calm them, Harriet realized they were about to fall down a pit, hence the frantic horses. When the dust cleared, figuratively speaking, Caro was gone. She was running through the dark fields to the closest town to get help. The papers had a field day.

Caro was very close to her mother and her dutiful brothers were protective of her. Her unpredictable personality made it difficult for her to make friends. The closest Caro seemed to come with childhood friends was Georgiana's daughter Harryo and Bess' daughter Caroline St Jules, who were all very close in age. Both girls had little patience for Caro's antics and commonly found themselves stuck with Caro on long trips across the continent. It was noticed that Caro seemed to behave better when around Caro St Jules' good influence.

When Harryo got married she neglected to invite Caro, who was very put out. Meanwhile Caro St Jules would forever be glued to her foil when the two both married the Lamb brothers. But that part of Caroline's story is of a more tartly nature.

Georgiana on Irish Women

In a letter to her mother Georgiana brought up the difference between wild Irish roses and English roses:

"I do not mean that Irish ladies are less virtuous, but their educations are coarser, and in language and manner an Irishwoman even of good essential conduct will allow herself what wd frighten an English fille. Swearing is common, and if angry they will not only write but publish against each other, and go into any lengths, which we are too well bred to think of. Long ago an Irish lady, in telling a friend of mine a story which really did her honor, enterlarded it with so many 'upon my souls' and 'the devil would have it' that the English woman was quite frightened."

When Lady Spencer wrote back, she and her Irish daughter-in-law, Lavinia, were together and she wrote to say that they both agreed with Georgiana's observations and that they weren't exaggerated.
I now have a new excuse for my sailor's mouth!

Mother Knows Best

You & I must have some serious conversation and make some firm resolutions upon the subject of gaming. I cannot do it without wounding my conscience, but your doing it wounds it doubly, as it reproaches me with what I can never make myself easy about, the bad example I have set you, and which you have have but too faithfully imitated...

Lady Spencer
17 November 1779

Mother Knows Best

"I am sure I need not warn you to observe the strictest sobriety and moderation in your dress. Let it be simple and noble, but pray do not let it be singular, and how glad I should be if you could tell me you had quite done with rouge. The credit such a conduct would be to your character would far outweigh the trivial and really false idea of your looking more shewy. There must be some period for taking up a different character of dress, and when can you find a better than now at your return after so considerable an Absence..."

Lady Spencer
19 October 1793

Mother Knows Best

"You should especially at such places as Turnbridge keep up a civility and dignity in your behaviour to the men of your own set, and a courteous good humour'd affability to the company in general whom you are little acquainted with, whereas I suspect, if you will examine your own conduct, you put on that killing cold look sometimes have to those you should be prevenante to, and a great deal more familiarity and ease than is either necessary or proper to the men about you..."

Lady Spencer
20 August 1778

What Would Georgie Do? Dilemmas with Debt

Recently, I have decided that enough is enough regarding my credit card debts! I'm sick to death of getting telephone offers to help me consolidate my debts and I'm sicker still knowing that the four foot peacock feathers I bought last year on my Visa have accumulated so much interest one might bankrupt the crown to pay it off! What's more I know how much this stresses out my boyfriend. What would dr, dr Georgiana do?

Duke of Declined

How odious credit card bills are! They always stand in the way of fun. Perhaps Georgiana wouldn't be the best person to ask for credit advice, considering her debts amounted to about £3 million in today's terms. Actually, I believe she would ask her mother, who was overflowing with well-meant advice. "Pray take care if you play to carry money in your pocket as much as you care to lose and never go beyond it," meaning you should stick to debit cards as much as you possibly can. Perhaps your dear mother could help you a bit with that Visa bill until you're back on your feet again; after all, mothers don't charge interest: "I would pay Townshend instantly for you if I had the money..." As to those annoying consolidation calls: "I pray to God that it may stop here and that neither you nor I may suffer any more from it."

Oh and whatever you do, don't tell your boyfriend! Even if Lady Spencer might beg to differ, "I hoped the Duke knew the whole of what you had lost and that it was all settled[!]"


I'm no advice columnist, and I know Georgiana can't be channeled through me, but if you have a fun question you'd like to submit to What Would Georgie Do? please email it to GeorgianaGossip@gmail.com with "What Would Georgie Do?" in the subject line. Or if you have a question better intended for the Queen of France, email MarieAntoinetteGossip@gmail.com

Mother Knows Best

"I am sorry Ly E. Foster's cough is worse, indeed she should not stay in such a climate as this, every hour may be of the utmost consequence to her."

Lady Spencer
26 August 1784

Puce

Puce is perhaps a better topic (and colour) for Marie Antoinette's Gossip Guide, but it was very much of interest to fashionable gentry in England as well!

The invention of "puce" is an amusing story in itself. Every fashion in France had to have a special name and these ranged from the basic to the downright humorous (ie: dauphin's poo). The socially awkward Louis never knew how to tell his wife how to ease up on the extravagant fashions and attempted many methods that all failed. Being straightforward is always the best policy says I! One day when he walked in on the queen trying on a new dress, he attempted to discourage her with the mean humour common at court. As Caroline Weber tells, in Queen of Fashion, "When the Queen asked her husband how he liked the confection, which was made from taffeta of an odd pinkish-tan hue, he replied laconically: 'It is the color of a flea [puce].'" The plan backfired, and the queen (and everyone else with her) loved the nickname for the colour and it stuck.

When Lady Spencer visited France in 1775 she noticed the trend in full-force,

"I have no material intelligence to give you except that you can wear no colour that is not either dos de puce or ventre de puce, it is the uniform at Fontainebleau and the only colour that can be worn..."

A few days later she wrote again to Georgiana to tell her she bought her a coat of ventre de puce but had yet to find her something nice in dos de puce. The following month Lady Clermont wrote to Georgiana to tell her

"[Marie Antoinette] has desire'd me to wear the uniform, which is a polonaise, couleur de puce."

I'm guessing she did too! You can't reject fashion advice from the Queen of Fashion! It is probably safe to say that the Empress of Fashion (as Walpole dubbed Georgiana) had already sent in her order for a polonaise in puce as soon as these letters had reached her.

Mother Knows Best

"I hope Lady Eliz does not loose sight of going abroad."

Lady Spencer
8 December 1782