temp. HANOVER. Elizabeth Cavendish. Duchess of Devonshire, 1809-1824. AR Medallet (14mm, 2.62 g, 12h). Struck in Milan? By L. Manfredi. Struck circa 1816. E. D. DE DEV., veiled bust left, wearing stephane / Diademed male head (Apollo?) right. Eimer –; BHM 1234. EF, toned.
Elizabeth Cavendish, née Harvey, though born the fourth daughter of an earl, truly began her ascent into high society in Bath in 1782. While on holiday with her aunt, she made the acquaintance of William and Georgiana Cavendish, Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, and moved in with them a few short weeks later. Here began a scandal that captivated Georgian society, as Elizabeth lived as the mistress to the Duke (and perhaps the Duchess as well), eventually having two children by him. Elizabeth managed to play the couple off one another and maintained a position as lover of the Duke and close friend and confidant of the Duchess until the latter’s death in 1806. She would marry the Duke in 1809, acquiring the title of Duchess herself, only to be widowed two years later.
After the death of the Duke, Elizabeth spent time in Rome, where she is known as a patron of archaeology. She financed translations of Horace and Virgil, as well as providing funds for some of the earliest major excavations in the Forum Romanum, helping to uncover the Via Sacra and the Column of Phocas, the base of which was then obscured.
