Lady Diana Beauclerk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portrait of Diana Beauclerk by Joshua Reynolds, 1763–1765
Portrait of Diana Beauclerk by Joshua Reynolds, 1763–1765

Lady Diana Beauclerk (née Lady Diana Spencer; other married name Diana St John, Viscountess Bolingbroke) (17341808) was an English noblewoman and artist.

She was the daughter of the Honourable Elizabeth Trevor (d. 1761) and Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough (17061758). Her siblings were George, Charles, and Elizabeth. She was raised at Langley Park, Buckinghamshire, where she was introduced to art at an early age. Joshua Reynolds, an artist, was a family friend.

Diana Beauclerk, "Lady and child dancing"
Diana Beauclerk, "Lady and child dancing"

She married Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke (1734–1787) in 1757, and from 17621768 was lady of the bedchamber to Queen Charlotte. Her marriage was unhappy and Bolingbroke was notoriously unfaithful. In February of 1768 he petitioned for divorce on grounds of adultery. The petition required an act of parliament, which was passed the next month. Within two days she married Topham Beauclerk of Old Windsor. They had four children: Anne (born around 1764, and did not survive infancy), twins Elisabeth (20 August 1766 - 25 March 1793) and Mary Day Beauclerk (20 August 1766 - 23 July 1851), and Charles George Beauclerk (20 January 1774 - 25 December 1846).

Their circle of friends included Samuel Johnson, Georgiana Cavendish — who maintained a glittering salon — Edward Gibbon, David Garrick, Charles Fox, and Edmund Burke.

Beauclerk illustrated a number of literary productions, including Horace Walpole's tragedy The Mysterious Mother, the English translation of Gottfried August Bürger's Leonora (1796) and The Fables of John Dryden (1797). After 1785 she was one of a circle of women, along with Emma Crewe and Elizabeth Templetown (1747-1823), whose designs for Josiah Wedgwood were made into bas-reliefs on jasper ornaments.

Her husband died in 1780 and, due to restricted finances, she began to lead a more retired life. She died in 1808 and was buried in Richmond.

[edit] References

Languages