Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough
Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer ( born June 16, 1761 Wimbledon, † November 11, 1821 in Florence) was a British noblewoman and the mistress of the Prince of Wales and future King George IV
Life
Henrietta Frances Spencer was the second daughter of five children of the politician John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer ( 1734-1783 ) and his wife Margaret Georgiana Poyntz ( 1737-1814 ), and was the great- great-granddaughter of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, the victor at the Battle of Blenheim in the war of Spanish Succession.
Her childhood revolved around perfect behavior and the social representation. She was taught together with her siblings at home by governesses and exclusively tutors using the grandfatherly library. With her older sister, Georgiana, Lady Henrietta Frances was not only one the most admired beauties, but was also regarded as a trendsetter of her time.
On November 27, 1780 Lady Henrietta Frances married in the St. James Church in London the Irish aristocrat Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough ( 1758-1844 ), only son of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough and Lady Caroline Cavendish. From the marriage, which by all accounts was a turbulent but also harmonious, went four children:
- Hon John William (1781-1847), later 4th Earl of Bessborough ∞ 1805 Lady Mary Fane ( 1787-1834 )
- Hon Sir Frederick Cavendish (1783-1837), Major - General ∞ 1825 Lady Emily Charlotte Bathurst († 1877)
- Lady Caroline (1785-1828) ∞ 1805 William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne ( 1779-1848 )
- Hon William Francis Spencer (1787-1855) ∞ 1814 Lady Barbara Ashley -Cooper († 1844)
In addition, Lady Henrietta Frances was very interested in politics and was involved in the campaign for the Whigs. In her London town house, the most important political figures found for talks, including Charles James Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Lord Byron or Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. Even with the then Prince of Wales, later King George IV and William Pitt the Younger, she was intimately familiar. Together with William Pitt campaigned for Catholic Emancipation in Ireland, but did not approve of the king - on 1802 Pitt resigned as Prime Minister. Her other friends included the Princess Caroline of Brunswick and the French queen Marie- Antoinette.
From a long-standing love affair with the aristocrats and politicians Granville Leveson - Gower, 1st Earl Granville ( 1773-1846 ), Henrietta Frances had an illegitimate daughter, Lady Harriet Emma Arundel Stewart ( † 1852). Later Granville Leveson - Gower married her niece, Lady Harriet Elizabeth Cavendish (1785-1862), a daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire.
In addition to its social and political commitment Lady Henrietta Frances wrote several poems. During a trip to Italy died Henrietta Frances Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough in Florence and was buried at the Cavendish vault, Derby.