Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby

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George Romney : Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Derby, oil on canvas, around 1776–1778

Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby , née Lady Elizabeth Hamilton (born January 26, 1753 at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh , † March 14, 1797 in Argyll House , London ) was a British noblewoman .

Life

Lady Elizabeth was the only daughter of the Scottish aristocrat and politician James Douglas-Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton (1724–1758) and his wife - a then famous beauty - Elizabeth Campbell, Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon (1734–1790), the youngest Daughter of Colonel John Barnaby Gunning and the 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).

Johann Zoffany : Elizabeth Farren as Hermione , around 1780

On June 23, 1774, Lady Elizabeth married in London the politician Sir Edward Smith-Stanley (1752-1834), the only son of Rt. Hon. James Smith-Stanley and Lucy Smith. Due to the early death of his father, he inherited the title of 12th Earl of Derby when his grandfather Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby died , in 1776 . Elizabeth has since held the courtesy title of Countess of Derby as wife . The marriage, which was reportedly unhappy, resulted in three children:

  • Sir Edward (1775-1851) ⚭ 1798 Charlotte Margaret Hornby
  • Lady Charlotte (1776–1805) ⚭ 1796 Edmund Hornby
  • Lady Elizabeth Henrietta (1778-1857) ⚭ 1795 Stephen Thomas Cole

At the beginning of 1795, Lady Elizabeth left her husband - with the consent of King George III. - after bitter quarrels because she no longer wanted to tolerate his relationship with the Irish actress Elizabeth Farren (1759–1829). Two months after her death, her husband married his mistress .

Name in different phases of life

  • 1753–1774 Lady Elizabeth Hamilton
  • 1774–1776 Lady Elizabeth Smith-Stanley
  • 1776–1797 Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby

Web links

Commons : Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Derby  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Gunning family ( Memento from September 5, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Smith-Stanley, Elizabeth, Countess of Derby
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hamilton, Lady Elizabeth; Smith-Stanley, Lady Elizabeth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British nobleman and, by marriage, Countess of Derby
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1753
PLACE OF BIRTH Holyrood Palace , Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1797
Place of death London