Elizabeth Anne, Lady William Russell (2 October 1793 – 10 August 1874) was the

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

wife of Lord George William Russell.

Early life

Elizabeth Anne Theophila Rawdon was born on 2 October 1793, child of Frances (''née'' Hall-Stevenson) and Captain the Hon. John Theophilus Rawdon (died 1808), the brother of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings. She was baptised at St Mary, Staines, Middlesex, on 4 October 1793. She spent much of her childhood in Europe, particularly Vienna and 'received an education more suited to a boy than a girl' at that time, including a deep knowledge of French, German, Spanish, and Italian, Greek and Latin as well as botany, astronomy and classical literature.

Adult life

Elizabeth Anne Rawdon married Lord George William Russell on 21 June 1817. A beautiful and energetic cosmopolitan who had enjoyed a broad

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an education,

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

praised her in '' Beppo'' as " newhose bloom could, after dancing, dare the dawn". Her outspoken

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

sympathies won her few friends among her husband's Liberal circle.

Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, (; 19 September 1778 – 7 May 1868) was a British statesman who became Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and played a prominent role in passing the Reform Act 1832 and Slavery A ...

described her as '"that accursed woman'". She and Russell had three sons, all of whom she tutored at home, perhaps lending them a rather distinctive approach to life: * Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford; * Lord Arthur John Edward Russell; * Odo Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill.

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

said in conversation "I think she is the most fortunate woman in England, for she has the three nicest sons". She died on 10 August 1874.

Commemoration

A biography of Elizabeth, Lady William Russell was published by the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

in December 2020.

Bibliography

References

1793 births 1874 deaths English socialites Wives of knights Wives of younger sons of peers {{UK-noble-stub