Lavinia Jannetta Horton Ryves (née Serres; 16 March 1797 – 7 December 1871), was a British woman claiming to be a member of the British royal family, calling herself "Princess Lavinia of Cumberland". Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England, Lavinia was the daughter of

Olivia Serres Olivia Serres (3 April 1772 – 21 November 1834), known as Olive, was a British painter and writer, born at Warwick. She is also known as an English impostor, who claimed the title of Princess Olive of Cumberland. Origins and early career Ol ...

and

John Thomas Serres John Thomas Serres (December 1759 – 28 December 1825) was an English maritime painter who enjoyed significant success, including exhibiting extensively at the Royal Academy, and was for a time Maritime Painter to King George III. Life John T ...

. Olivia Serres gained notoriety by claiming to be the daughter of

Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn (Henry Frederick;He is called simply "(His Royal Highness) Prince Henry" in the ''London Gazette'8 September 1761George III of the United Kingdom. In 1822 Lavinia married Anthony Ryves, a portrait painter. They were divorced in 1841. In 1844 "Princess Lavinia" tried to take

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

to court for having "overlooked", as George III's executor, a bequest of £15,000 to Olivia. In 1850 Lavinia published a pamphlet requesting financial aid from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. In 1866, aged sixty-nine, Princess Lavinia asked the

Court of Probate In the history of the courts of England and Wales, the Court of Probate was created by the Court of Probate Act 1857, which transferred the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts in testamentary matters to the new court so created. The Judg ...

to declare her the legitimate granddaughter of the Duke of Cumberland and award her the £15,000 bequest "left" by George III. In the process of the 1866 trial, Lavinia produced several remarkable documents attesting to her claims, and a handwriting expert testified to the authenticity of George III's and

James Wilmot James Wilmot (1726 in Warwick – 1807 in Barton) was an English clergyman and scholar from Warwickshire. During his lifetime, he was apparently unknown beyond his immediate circle. After Wilmot's death, his niece, Olivia Serres, claimed that he ...

's signatures. Testimony was introduced that in fact the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edwar ...

had supported Olivia financially, and had spoken of Olivia as "my cousin Serres", apparently believing her story. The trial was most considered remarkable, perhaps, for the claims made by Dr. Walter Smith, Lavinia's barrister, that George III had been privately married to a Quaker,

Hannah Lightfoot Hannah Lightfoot (12 October 1730 – before December 1759), known as "The Fair Quaker", was a Quaker in Westminster. She married Isaac Axford in December 1753 but, before the end of the following year, had disappeared. Later gossip, originally i ...

, and that in consequence thereof, neither George IV nor Queen Victoria had any right to the throne. Lavinia's case, however, quickly ran into difficulties: in some of the submitted documents, George III had "signed" his name as "George Guelph"; in others, William Pitt and Lord Brook had "signed" as earls before they had in fact become earls. The court found that Lavinia was the legitimate daughter of John and Olivia Serres and was not the granddaughter of the Duke of Cumberland. The court did not prosecute Lavinia for forgery: Lavinia maintained she believed in good faith that the documents left her by Olivia were genuine. It is thought that the documents were in fact forged at the behest of Olivia, rather than Lavinia, perhaps by William FitzClarence, Olivia's boyfriend, who had calligraphic talents. Lavinia continued to write pamphlets in support of her claims, and her case was reheard by the House of Lords. She died with her claims unrecognized.

References

*''The Great Pretenders: The True Stories behind Famous Historical Mysteries'',

Jan Bondeson Jan Bondeson (born 17 December 1962) is a Swedish- British rheumatologist, scientist and author, working as a senior lecturer and consultant rheumatologist at the Cardiff University School of Medicine. He has also written non-fiction on topic ...

, W.W. Norton & Co, New York, 2004. . *The name of her pamphlet was "An Appeal for Royalty A Letter to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria from Lavinia Princess of Cumberland and Duchess of Lancaster" published by W. Freeman, London 1858 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryves, Lavinia 1797 births 1871 deaths Impostor pretenders People from Liverpool