An important portrait of Caroline Lamb,daughter of 3rd. Earl Bessborough, grand daughter of the Dowager Lady Spencer, neice to Georgiana Cavendish and lover of Lord Byron.
Dimensions: Oval 2 3/4 inches high
Price Guide: G
Item Referance: 44
Additional Information: Lady Caroline Lamb 1785-1826. Caroline was the only daughter of Frederick Ponsonby 3rd Earl of Bessborough and Henrietta, his wife. Her Aunt was Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and she was also related to Lord Byron through her cousin Annabella. Caroline Lamb was a reputed novelist. Born, the Honourable Caroline Ponsonby, she became Lady Caroline when her father succeeded to the earldom in 1793. She was delicate as a child and lived in the country until 1794 when she lived with her cousins at Devonshire House, London. These were Lord Hartington (later 6th Duke of Devonshire) Lady Georgiana, and Lady Harriet Cavendish, also two children of Lady Elizabeth Foster and the Duke of Devonshire. She was educated there and was closest to Lady Harriet. The Grandmother she shared with her cousins, the formidable Dowager Lady Spencer, was dedicated to promoting their education. Their governess, Miss Selina Trimmer, taught them an extensive curriculum and Caroline also went to school, in Hans Place, London. As a young adult she wrote prose and poetry and was a talented sketcher of portraits. She spoke several languages and enjoyed music and drama. She was bright, intelligent and a known wit. Aged 19, she married the Hon. William Lamb, a young, up and coming politician, and heir to 1st. Viscount Melbourne. She gave him a son in 1807 but lost two children. The marriage failed and there was a formal separation. In 1812 Caroline embarked on a well-publicised affair with Lord Byron, who obsessed over her, trying to destroy her marriage so that he might have her to himself. It was Caroline who famously described Byron as �Mad, bad, and dangerous to know.� Her vouchers to Almack�s an exclusive club, were rescinded in 1816 after she published �Glenarvon�. a successful novel, in which she included a thinly disguised picture of Byron. She also published two further novels and narrative poems. In 1824 she accidentally came across Byron�s funeral cortege and this drove her to a nervous breakdown and rumoured insanity. She spent her last years in seclusion at Brocket Hall. Charlotte Jones 1768-1847 Born in Norfolk, she studied under Richard Cosway, and worked in London, Bath and Manchester. She exhibited at the R.A. 1801-23 and became miniature painter to H.R.H. Princess Charlotte of Wales c. 1808. She painted miniatures on ivory and enamel, charging 25-30 guineas. She became partially blind and died in London in 1847. Examples of her miniatures are at Windsor Castle, and the Holbourne Museum, Bath. |
