Lady Diana Beauclerk (''née'' Lady Diana Spencer; other married name Diana St John, Viscountess Bolingbroke; 24 March 1734 – 1 August 1808) was an English noblewoman and artist.

Early life

Beauclerk was born into the

Spencer family The Spencer family is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. From the 16th century, its members have held numerous titles including the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Sunderland and Spencer, and the Churchill barony. Two prom ...

as the daughter of

Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, (22 November 170620 October 1758), styled as The Honourable Charles Spencer between 1706 and 1729 and as The Earl of Sunderland between 1729 and 1733, was a British soldier, nobleman, and politician fr ...

(1706–1758), and the Honourable Elizabeth Trevor (d. 1761). Her siblings were

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, Charles, and

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

. Her great-grandmother was the formidable

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...

. She was raised at Langley Park,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, where she was introduced to art at an early age.

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

, an artist, was a family friend.

Marriages and children

On 8 September 1757, she married

Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, 3rd Viscount St John (21 December 1732 – 5 May 1787), was a British Viscount and landowner. His father was John St John, 2nd Viscount St John, half-brother of Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke ...

(1734–1787). From 1762–1768 she was

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. They are ranked between the Mis ...

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

. She became widely known as 'Lady Di' (as did her namesake,

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, prior to her marriage). Beauclerk had four children during this first marriage: *

George St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke George Richard St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke and 4th Viscount St John (5 March 1761 – 11 December 1824), styled The Honourable George St John from birth until 1787, was a British peer and politician. He became famous in his own lifetime for ...

(5 March 1761 – 11 December 1824) *Henriette St John (1 Aug 1762 - April 1834) - married in 1792 Henry Towcester *Anne (born ca. 1764, and did not survive infancy) *

Frederick St John (British Army officer) General Frederick St John (20 December 1765 — 19 November 1844) was an officer of the British Army and a politician.''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820'', ed. R. Thorne, 1986 He rose to the rank of general during his ca ...

(20 December 1765 — 19 November 1844) Finding herself in a desperately unhappy marriage to the notoriously unfaithful Viscount Bolingbroke, Lady Di overturned convention. She left her husband and maintained a secret relationship with her lover, Topham Beauclerk. In February 1768 Bolingbroke petitioned for divorce on grounds of adultery ("criminal conversation"). The petition required an act of parliament, which was passed the next month. Within two days, she married

Topham Beauclerk Topham Beauclerk ( ; 22 December 1739 – 11 March 1780) was a celebrated wit and a friend of Dr Johnson and Horace Walpole. Life Topham Beauclerk was born on 22 December 1739, the only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk and a great-grandson of King ...

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old ...

. They had three children: *Elisabeth Beauclerk (20 August 1766 – 25 March 1793), married her cousin

George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke General George Augustus Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke and 8th Earl of Montgomery (10 September 1759 – 26 October 1827) was an English peer, army officer, and politician. Early life He was born Lord Herbert at the family home, Wilton House ...

*(Anne) Mary Day Beauclerk (29 June or 20 August 1766 – 23 July 1851), twin of Elisabeth. She famously had a long-term relationship with her own half-brother Bolingbroke, and had four sons by him. After he abandoned her, she married in 179
Franz Raugraf Jenison von Walworth
(1764–1824), a German count of English parentage, and had legitimate issue 2 sons (one son deceased) and four daughters. (Her descendants via her youngest daughte
Emilie
or Amalie include princes of Loewenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, and through them, other German royalty). *

Charles George Beauclerk Charles George Beauclerk (20 January 1774 – 25 December 1845) was an English politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Richmond from 1796 to 1798. Background and education He was the only son of Topham Beauclerk and ...

(20 January 1774 – 25 December 1846), M.P. for Richmond (1796-8), in 1799 he married Emily Charlotte Ogilvie, daughter of Emily Mary Lennox, Duchess of Leinster, by second husband, William Ogilvie.

Friends

Their circle of friends included

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

Georgiana Cavendish Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...

— who maintained a glittering salon —

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

, Charles Fox,

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

and

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...

Fanny Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...

recorded in her diary the feelings of

about Lady Diana after the death of Topham Beauclerk:

From the window of the dining-parlour, Sir Joshua eynoldsdirected us to look at a pretty white house which belonged to Lady Di. Beauclerk. "I am extremely glad," said Mr. Burke, "to see her at last so well housed; poor woman! the bowl has long rolled in misery; I rejoice that it has now found its balance. I never, myself, so much enjoyed the sight of happiness in another, as in that woman when I first saw her after the death of her husband. It was really enlivening to behold her placed in that sweet house, released from all her cares, a thousand pounds a year at her own disposal, and — her husband was dead! Oh, it was pleasant, it was delightful to see her enjoyment of her situation!" "But, without considering the circumstances" said Mr. Gibbon, "this may appear very strange, though, when they are fairly stated, it is perfectly rational and unavoidable." "Very true," said Mr. Burke, "if the circumstances are not considered, Lady Di. may seem highly reprehensible." He then, addressing himself particularly to me, as the person least likely to be acquainted with the character of Mr. Beauclerk, drew it himself in strong and marked expressions, describing the misery he gave his wife, his singular ill-treatment of her, and the necessary relief the death of such a man must give.

On the other hand,

records that

said of her (in 1773), "The woman's a whore and there's an end on't."

, ''

Life of Samuel Johnson Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy tran ...

''; entry for 7 May 1773.

Artistic work

Diana eventually helped to support herself by painting. She was a highly gifted artist who was able to use her scandalous reputation as an adulteress, aristocratic woman to further her career as a painter and designer. She painted portraits, illustrated plays and books, provided designs for Wedgwood's innovative pottery, and decorated rooms with murals. Championed by her close friend

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

, whose letters illuminate all aspects of her life, she was able to establish herself as an admired artist at a time when women struggled to forge careers. Beauclerk illustrated a number of literary productions, including

's tragedy ''The Mysterious Mother'', the English translation of

Gottfried August Bürger Gottfried August Bürger (31 December 1747 – 8 June 1794) was a German poet. His ballads were very popular in Germany. His most noted ballad, '' Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English and Russian ada ...

's '' Leonora'' (1796) and ''The Fables of

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

'' (1797). After 1785 she was one of a circle of women, along with

Emma Crewe Emma Crewe (born 1741, d. in or after 1795) was a British artist known for her designs for Josiah Wedgwood, and for her botanical art. Life Crewe was the daughter of Elizabeth Shuttleworth, herself daughter of Richard Shuttleworth (1683–1749 ...

and

Elizabeth Templetown Elizabeth Upton, Baroness Templetown (''née'' Boughton; 1746/47 – September 1823) was an English artist whose designs were used by Josiah Wedgwood the potter. She specialised in detailed cut-paper work which adapted well to Wedgwood's jasperw ...

(1746/7-1823), whose designs for

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...

were made into

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s on

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

ornaments.

Sculpture design

Beauclerk designed the allegorical group, sculpted by John de Veere of the Coade Stone factory, to decorate the plain facade of the

Pelican and British Empire Life Insurance Company Pelican and British Empire Life Insurance Company was a British life insurance company. It was established in 1797 by Phoenix Fire Office, Phoenix Assurance as the Pelican Life Office, later the Pelican Life Assurance Company, before merging with Br ...

at 70 Lombard Street in the City of London. It was rescued before building demolition in 1915 and is now displayed in the

Horniman Museum The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a museum in Forest Hill, London, England. Commissioned in 1898, it opened in 1901 and was designed by Charles Harrison Townsend in the Modern Style. It has displays of anthropology, natural history and musical ...

Later life, death, and legacy

Beauclerk's second 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. In the mid-1990s a portrait of her hung in

Kenwood House Kenwood House (also known as the Iveagh Bequest) is a former stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The house was originally constructed in the 17th century and served as a residence for the Earls of Mans ...

, on

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band o ...

in London, with the caption: "Lady Diana Spencer, known chiefly for the unhappiness of her first marriage."

References

*Surtees, Virginia.
Beauclerk, Lady Diana (1734–1808)
' in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 8 May 2007.

External links

Lady Diana Beauclerk on Artnet
(6 Dec 2010)
Three children, seated in a landscape, with a basket of wild flowers
(Pencil & watercolour -

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

)
British Museum collection of 73 works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauclerk, Diana Diana Beauclerk 1734 births 1808 deaths English illustrators English watercolourists English women painters Daughters of English dukes Diana Bolingbroke People from Buckinghamshire People from Old Windsor Women watercolorists 18th-century English women 18th-century English people 19th-century English women 19th-century English people British ladies-in-waiting Wedgwood pottery Court of George III of the United Kingdom Household of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz