Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby
Lady Elizabeth Hamilton ( * January 26, 1753 at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, † March 14 1797 in Argyll House, London) was a British nobleman and by marriage Countess of Derby.
Life
Lady Elizabeth was the only daughter of Scottish aristocrat and politician James Douglas-Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton ( 1724-1758 ) and his wife - a former famous beauty - Elizabeth Campbell, Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon ( 1734-1790 ), the youngest daughter of Colonel John Barnaby Gunning and Hon Bridget Bourke. After the early death of her father her mother married a year later Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll ( 1723-1806 ).
On June 23, 1774 Lady Elizabeth married in London the politician Sir Edward Smith Stanley ( 1752-1834 ), only son of Rt Hon James Smith - Stanley and Lucy Smith. Due to the early death of his father he inherited in 1776 upon the death of his grandfather, Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby its title. From the marriage, which by all accounts was unhappy, had three children:
- Sir Edward (1775-1851)
- Lady Charlotte (1776-1805)
- Lady Elizabeth Henrietta (1778-1857)
Beginning of 1795 Lady Elizabeth left her husband - with the approval of King George III. - After bitter quarrels because they no longer wanted to tolerate his relationship with his lover, the Irish actress Elizabeth Farren ( 1759-1829 ). Two months after her death, her husband married his mistress.