Georgiana Devonshire
Next PagePrevious PageTable of Contents
Game RulesBibliographyGlossary

 

Georgiana was made famous in recent times by the 2008 movie The Duchess starring Keira Knightley. At the age of 18 the real Georgiana Spencer (1757-1806) married the Duke of Devonshire and was suddenly thrust into the flurry of high society on the same day that her husband's mistress gave birth to his child. Protocal of the time demanded that a new wife of her station make visits to every "notable" person in society, going from house to house making polite conversation so they could observe the new Duchess of Devonshire. A biography written by Amanda Foreman suggests that Geogiana made about 500 of these visits in her first three weeks of married life.

In spite of her youth, she became immensely popular and became the model of fashion for the elite section of the upper class called the "Ton," In fact, among several fashions she seems to have originated, it was she who is credited with taking the high women's hair styles of the time even more ridiculous levels. By using pads of horse hair and wigs she piled it to heights of 3-feet, and was the first to start adding additional decorations to it like birds and models of sailing ships.


The Faro table at Devonshire House, Thomas Rowlandson, 1784.

In a time when gambling was one of the primary entertainments of all classes of society, it is not surpising that the pressures of her life drove this young woman to became a compulsive gambler, amassing huge debts which, at times, not only threatened her inheritance, but the estates of her husband as well.

Woman Gamblers
Woman Gaming Hall Owners

Copyright 2002, Rose & Pentagram Design, all rights reserved.