Birth of Eliza Courtney ~ illegitimate daughter of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.
Eliza Courtney, was the illegitimate daughter of Charles Grey and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.
Georgiana had three legitimate children with her husband William, 5th Duke of Devonshire.
These were Georgiana, known as ‘Little G’, followed by Harriet, known affectionately as ‘Harryo’, and finally, a son and heir William.
In June 1791 Georgiana and William attended court to celebrate King George III’s birthday.
It would have been around this time that Georgiana found herself pregnant again, this child however, was not her husbands.
It was the result of her affair with Charles Grey.
Sent off to France, Georgiana believed she would die in childbirth.
Eliza was born without complications, on 20th February 1792, at Aix de Provence, France.
Georgiana’s heart was broken yet again, when she was forced to give away her daughter.
Eliza was to be raised by Charles Grey’s parents – as his sibling, rather than his daughter.
Separated from her children, Georgiana described her exile in France as
“This year has been the most painful of my life”
In order to return to England and her children, she conceded to her husband’s demands and renounced her love for Charles Grey.
Family records of her exile in France were subsequently erased.
Unlike her mother’s legitimate children from her marriage, Eliza was not raised as part of the Devonshire House in London.
Eliza, although seeing her mother, was unaware of the familial connection until after the death of Georgiana.
Her mother could not acknowledge her daughter, and would visit her in secret until her death in 1806.
Several anguish-ridden poems from mother to daughter survive to this day.
On 10th December 1814 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Eliza married Lt. Col. Robert Charles Ellice.
They went on to have four children together~
Robert~ in 1816
Georgiana~ in 1817
Elizabeth Georgiana~ in 1818
Charles Henry~ in 1823.
Eliza died on the 2nd May 1859, at the age of 67.
She was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.
Eliza Courtney’s descendants, include Sarah~Duchess of York, and her daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
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