Lady Caroline Lamb

Lady Caroline Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne ( born November 13, 1785 Canford House, Dorset as Caroline Ponsonby, † January 26, 1828 in London) was a British writer.

Life

Lady Caroline Ponsonby was the only daughter of four children of a politician Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough ( 1758-1844 ) and his wife Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer ( 1761-1821 ), a daughter of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer and Margaret Georgiana Poyntz. She was raised by her maternal aunt, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, on. Her mother was a mistress of the British King George IV

Despite their lack of a formal education, Lady Caroline turned out to be a gift for languages ​​and was fluent in French, Italian and Greek. In June 1805 Lady Caroline married the English aristocrat and politician William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne ( 1779-1848 ). After two miscarriages in 1807, the only child of the couple, George Augustus Frederick, born.

In 1812, Lady Caroline met the poet Lord Byron ( 1788-1824 ). The two began an affair that lasted until 1813, but even after the end of the relationship Lady Caroline was still obsessed with the poets. Her novel Glenarvon, which appeared like all her other works during her lifetime anonymously, is considered gothic novel. Shamed and disgraced Melbourne decided to leave his wife, even though the official separation took place until 1825. Lady Caroline died in 1828 at an early stage at the age of 42 years due to their alcohol and drug use.

Primary literature

  • Glenarvon, London 1816 ( Reprint: Woodstock Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 1-85477-132-9 )
  • Graham Hamilton, Colburn, London 1822 ( 2 vols )

Secondary literature

  • Cecil David: The young Melbourne and the story of his marriage with Caroline Lamb. Constable Books, London 1955
  • Paul Douglass: Lady Caroline Lamb. A biography. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2004, ISBN 1-403-96605-2
  • Paul Douglass (ed.): The whole disgraceful truth. Selected letters of Lady Caroline Lamb. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2006, ISBN 1-403-96958-2
  • Elizabeth Jenkins: Lady Caroline Lamb. Gollancz, London 1932

Film

Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough Name Authority File
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