A LIFETIME OF FRIENDSHIP
Born in 1795 to the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, Lady Georgiana Lennox lived through some of the most significant events of the nineteenth century including Napoleon’s defeat in the Battle of Waterloo at the hands of the Duke of Wellington. A lesser known fact is the unique friendship Georgy enjoyed with the Duke himself, which began when she was a child and ended with his death in 1852.
In this delightful book, author Alice Marie Crossland charts that relationship using the diaries and surviving letters of their correspondence.
The story of how Crossland discovered her subject is a tale in itself that began while she was researching the miniature given to Georgiana at the ball hosted by her mother, the Duchess of Richmond, the night before the Battle of Waterloo. Crossland’s obvious enthusiasm for her subject led Georgy’s descendants to invite her to visit the family estate in Strangford, Northern Ireland to look through her memorabilia. The result is an extremely readable book that also does credit to its subject.
The woman who emerges from Crossland’s excellent research is warm, witty, generous and above all loyal. Georgy may have hero worshipped Wellington, but he could not surpass the love she held for her husband William Fitzgerald de Ros, who on the death of his brother inherited a family estate in Ireland and the former country house Boyle Farm in Thames Ditton.
Crossland has brought Georgy to life with a book that does a great job shining a light on a woman who bore witness to some of the most significant events of the nineteenth century.
Reviewed by Juliette Foster
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