Lavinia Spencer, Countess Spencer


Lavinia Spencer, Countess Spencer was a British illustrator.

Early life and family

Born in 1762, Lady Lavinia Bingham was the eldest daughter of the Irish peer Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan and his wife, the portrait miniature painter Margaret Smyth. She had three sisters and one brother, Richard.

Marriage and issue

Despite the lack of a dowry, George Spencer, Viscount Althorp fell "out of his senses" with Lavinia and offered her marriage. His parents Lord and Lady Spencer permitted the match, perceiving that Lavinia was pretty, intelligent, and morally acceptable. The young couple married on 6 March 1782, and had nine children:
A rising politician, Althorp succeeded his father as the 2nd Earl Spencer in 1783. Earl and Countess Spencer resided at Althorp and Spencer House, London, eventually producing eight children. They entertained the era's most prominent political and intellectual leaders.
The historian Malcolm Lester describes her as "a strong-minded and strong-willed woman of great erudition and charm was perhaps the pre-eminent hostess in London society". The biographer Amanda Foreman, however, details less attractive traits, describing her as "moody, vindictive, hypocritical" and "neurotically jealous" of her sisters-in-law the Duchess of Devonshire and the Countess of Bessborough and "a calm liar who maintained a veneer of politeness to her in-laws while freely abusing them in conversation elsewhere."

Works

Her drawing A Pinch of Snuff was included in the 1905 book Women Painters of the World. She is known for engravings made after her drawings by the engraver Mariano Bovi.

Works cited

*