Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (June 7, 1757–March 30, 1806), born Georgiana Spencer, was the first wife of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and mother of William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Her father, John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, was a great-grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Her niece was Lady Caroline Lamb. Among the descendants of her family are the present Duke of Devonshire (via her granddaughter), Diana, Princess of Wales (born Lady Diana Spencer), Jonathan Dearness and Sarah, Duchess of York (via her illegitimate child Eliza Courtney).
Biography
Georgiana was a celebrated beauty and a socialite who gathered around her a large circle of literary and political figures—a salon. She was also an active political campaigner in an age when women's suffrage was still over a century away. Both the Spencers and the Cavendishes were Whigs. Georgiana campaigned for the Whigs—particularly for a distant cousin, Charles James Fox—at a time when the King (George III) and his Ministers had more direct influence over the House of Commons, principally through their power of patronage. During the 1784 general election, the Duchess was rumored to have traded kisses for votes in favor of Fox and was satirised by Thomas Rowlandson in his print "THE DEVONSHIRE, or Most Approved Method of Securing Votes". Famously, when she was stepping out of her carriage one day, an Irish dustman exclaimed: "Love and bless you, my lady, let me light my pipe in your eyes!", a compliment which she often recalled whenever others complimented her by retorting, "After the dustman's compliment, all others are insipid."
Husband and children
Georgiana married the incumbent Duke of Devonshire on 6 June 1774, one day before her seventeenth birthday. The Cavendishes' marriage was satirized in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play, School for Scandal. She had numerous miscarriages before giving birth to two daughters, Georgiana (1783–1858) and Harriet (1785–1862), and a son, William George Spencer. Georgiana married George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle; Harriet married Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville; William never married and died without issue.Georgiana introduced Cavendish to her best friend, Lady Elizabeth Foster, and tolerated their ensuing affair for many years. She herself began an affair with Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, by whom she had a daughter, Eliza Courtney. Lady Elizabeth had a son and a daughter by Cavendish. Upon Georgiana's death, he married her.
Fashion and debt
Georgiana is famous not only for her marital arrangements, her beauty and sense of style, and her political campaigning, but also for her love of gambling. She was reported to have died deeply in debt, even though her own family, the Spencers, and her husband's family, the Cavendishes, were immensely wealthy. She died on 30 March 1806, aged 48, from what was thought to be an abscess of the liver; she was buried at All Saints Church, Derby, England. 
During her years in the public eye, Georgiana was painted by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough's famous painting of her in a large French hat was lost for many years. It had been stolen from a London art gallery by Adam Worth then somehow restored to Agnew's Art Gallery by Allan Pinkerton of the American detective agency Pinkerton's. It turned up again at Sotheby's a decade ago and was purchased by Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of DevonshireChatsworth collection. Georgiana managed to keep a “natural relationship”[3] with the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette; the similarity of the lives they led is often observed. for the
Another well-known woman from the same family as Georgiana was Diana, Princess of WalesGeorgiana's brother, the 2nd Earl Spencer.
Obviously i copied this off of Wikipedia. & the pictures are from the movie "The Duchess."
