Summary

Pastel on paper, The Two Duchesses of Devonshire: Lady Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806) and Lady Elizabeth Christiana Hervey, later Duchess of Devonshire (Lady Elizabeth Foster) (1759–1824), by John Downman, RA (Ruabon, North Wales, 1750 – Wrexham 1824). 1785. Description: full-length portrait, very pale, the Duchess of Devonshire seated in a landscape in a long white dress, her hands folded on her lap; Lady Elizabeth Foster stands beside her at the right, wearing a pale blue dress and holding up a paper from which she is reading. A tree to the right, distant horizon on the left, with cloudy sky.

Full description

This rare full-length double portrait by John Downman received renewed scholarly attention in 2025–2026, following the portrait featuring in the BBC Two series, Hidden Treasures of the National Trust. After essential conservation work was carried out by paper conservator Louise Drover, two central questions emerged: one, what is this work’s significance to the relationship between Georgiana and Elizabeth (known as ‘Bess’), and two, how did it come to reside at Ickworth? Once it became clear that Georgiana and Bess couldn’t have been in the same country when this portrait was created in 1785 due to their concurrent pregnancies (one legitimate, one illegitimate – both pregnant with a daughter by the Duke of Devonshire), another query became: how did the artist John Downman picture these two figures in a double portrait when they could not have been drawn from life? Georgiana Spencer (pronounced 'Jor-jay-na') was born in Althorp, Northamptonshire in June 1757. She was the eldest daughter of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, one of the richest men in England. Georgiana grew up amidst immense wealth and was connected through family to the very upper echelons of British society. In comparison, Elizabeth Hervey (known as 'Bess' to her family and friends) was born in May 1758, in a small house in Horringer, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. She was the second daughter of Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (1730–1803) and Elizabeth Davers (1730–1800), daughter of Sir Jermyn Davers, Bt. Her father only attained his Earldom in 1779, and so Bess was raised in what has been described as relative poverty, certainly when compared to the privileged lives of Georgiana and the Duke of Devonshire. In June 1774 Georgiana married William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, on her 17th birthday. The Duke was extremely reserved and ill-matched to the emotionally demonstrative Georgiana, and their union was a rocky one. Two years later, Bess married the Irishman John Thomas Foster of Dunleer, Louth, MP for Enniskillen. The couple had two sons, born in 1777 and 1780. By 1782, however, Bess was estranged from her husband (with whom she had had an unhappy union) and in financial difficulty. It was in this year that she met Georgiana and the Duke in Bath. The two women instantly struck up a close friendship and Georgiana invited Bess to come live with her and her husband at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire and at Devonshire House in Piccadilly, the London townhouse of the Dukes of Devonshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. When Bess herself then embarked on a sexual relationship with the Duke, some form of an approved ménage à trois was established between the three parties. Georgiana's own feelings towards Bess are made clear in the letters she wrote to her, despite the fact that she was very aware that Bess was her husband's lover. One such letter reads, 'My dear Bess, Do you hear the voice of my heart crying to you? Do you feel what it is for me to be separated from you? … Oh Bess, every sensation I feel but heightens my adoration of you'. Although we may never know the true nature of their relationship, some form of romantic female friendship seems to have been a central feature of both women's lives. After nine years of marriage, in 1783 Georgiana gave birth to the first successful pregnancy of her marriage with the Duke. Lady Georgiana Cavendish, called ‘Little G’, was born in July 1783. Georgiana went on to have two more children with the Duke – Lady Harriet Cavendish, called ‘Harryo’, in August 1785, and finally a son in 1790, William Cavendish, known as ‘Hart’. With the birth of a legitimate male heir, Georgiana was publicly able to take a lover of her own, having fulfilled her societal expectations. Meanwhile, in late November or December of 1784, Bess left England for Italy and France, pregnant with her first illegitimate child with the Duke of Devonshire. She did not return to England until 1786. Bess gave birth to the first of her two children with the Duke in 1785, prior to their later marriage in 1809. Caroline St. Jules (1785–1862) was born in 1785, and Sir Augustus Clifford (1788–1877) was born in 1788. After a period of time, the couple’s illegitimate children were raised at Devonshire House with the Duke's legitimate children by Georgiana. In 1791 Georgiana became pregnant by her lover Charles Grey, later Earl Grey. She was sent off to France and had a third daughter, Eliza, in 1792, who was raised by her father’s family. Bess accompanied Georgiana during her exile to Europe, proving that the relationship between the two women remained incredibly close despite their unusual familial circumstances. After years of ill health Georgiana’s final illness occurred in March 1806. She died at Devonshire House aged just 48. Following her death, Bess married the Duke and became the next Duchess of Devonshire. The Duke himself died two years later in 1811. In considering the portrait of The Two Duchesses of Devonshire at Ickworth, then, what was going on in 1784 and 1785 as the artist John Downman was preparing for this double representation of the two women? We know that the portrait is dated to 1785, a year when Georgiana was heavily pregnant with Harriet (born in August 1785) and living in England, and likewise so was Bess (pregnant with Caroline, also born in August 1785), although she was abroad in France. Bess left for France and Italy in late November or December 1784, and did not return again until 1786. Therefore, did Downman produce this painting from a copy of something else, who commissioned it and why? The answer lies in a preparatory sketch for the Ickworth double portrait located at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. In the John Downman Collection of Original Portraits, 1770–1820 (item 2314) there is a preparatory drawing of Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire (2314.15), with the inscription: The Duchess of Devonshire 1784 Original Study for a Group whole-lengths with Lady Elizabeth Foster for Lady Harvey. She was Lady Georgiana Spencer eldest Daughter to Earl Spencer. This inscription confirms that Downman made at least one preparatory sketch of Georgiana in 1784, specifically to create the (imagined) double portrait of her and Bess at Ickworth. Another Downman preparatory sketch of Georgiana resides at Chatsworth. A similar sketch of Bess does not survive in the collection at the Fitzwilliam Museum, although a later portrait sketch from 1787 at the Fitzwilliam indicates Bess was still sitting for Downman several years later, and works were still being commissioned from him. Another central question key to this portrait is who commissioned it, and who does ‘Lady Harvey’ refer to? It could refer to Bess herself, explaining why it ended up in the family's collection at Ickworth. If so, it represents a tangible example of the affection Bess had for her lifelong friend (and potentially lover) Georgiana, as the act of commissioning intimate portraiture implies a high degree of closeness. ‘Lady Harvey’ could also refer to Bess’s mother, Elizabeth Davers, Lady Hervey. Technically, ‘Lady Harvey’ (a misspelling of ‘Hervey’, which was not uncommon in the era) in 1784 would have been Bess’s mother, Elizabeth Davers (1733–1800). Bess’s father, the 4th Earl or Earl-Bishop, assumed the Earldom in December 1779, after the death of his brother, the 3rd Earl. The Earl-Bishop then died in 1803. In 1782, after 30 years of marriage, Hervey and his wife Elizabeth separated. The two never saw each other again. Two years later, the commission for the Downman double portrait was realized as evidenced by the artist's inscription, which seems an incongruous thing to do for Bess's estranged mother. Based on the weight of evidence, then, it seems most likely that Bess herself commissioned this intimate and rare full-length double portrait of herself and her dear companion Georgiana, explaining why the picture eventually ended up at Ickworth, where it remains to this day. As such, it represents a rare glimpse into the true nature of their friendship, and perhaps confirms that theirs was a lifelong relationship of mutual support, love and respect between two of the 18th century’s most infamous female figures. Louisa Brouwer, May 2026