Person    | Female  Born 1734  Died 1808

Lady Diana Beauclerk

Categories: Art, Other

Lady Diana Spencer was born in 1735, the eldest child of the third Duke of Marlborough. She was expected to follow a traditional path through life: educated in the fashion considered suitable for a girl, and married to a man of the appropriate rank for a duke's daughter. However, Lady Di overturned convention. She left her husband, pursued a secret relationship with Topham Beauclerk, hid the birth of an illegitimate child, was divorced, remarried and eventually had to earn her living by painting.

This text came from the same web site as the picture.

Her designs were used by Wedgwood.

The Museum of London holds a 1797 large sculptural frieze, known as the Pelican figures, that used to be high up on the facade of an insurance building in Lombard Street. This was designed by Lady Diana.

There is a book about this lady : Improper Pursuits: The Scandalous Life of Lady Di Beauclerk, Author: Carola Hicks.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Lady Diana Beauclerk

Commemorated ati

The Adelphi

The Adelphi This building stands on the site of Adelphi Terrace built by the...

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Topham & Lady Diana Beauclerk

Here lived Topham Beauclerk. Born 1739. Died 1780. Lady Diana Beauclerk. ...

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Other Subjects

Sir Luke Fildes

Sir Luke Fildes

Illustrator and portrait painter. Born Samuel Luke Fildes at 22 Standish Street, Liverpool. He became known as a woodcut designer for magazines such as 'The Graphic', the first issue of which inclu...

Person, Art

1 memorial
James Pryde

James Pryde

James Ferrier "Jimmy" Pryde. Born Edinburgh. Came to London in 1890. In 1893 he married Marian Symons and his sister Mabel married William Nicholson. That year also the Beggarstaffs began their par...

Person, Art, Scotland

1 memorial
Laurence Housman

Laurence Housman

Radical playwright, writer, illustrator, socialist, pacifist and founding member of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage. The photo shows Housman in 1914. Brother to A. E. Housman. Studied art an...

Person, Art, Gender Issues, Theatre

1 memorial
Lucian Freud, OM, CH

Lucian Freud, OM, CH

Painter. Lucian Michael Freud was born Berlin, Germany. In 1933 his family moved with him to England to escape the Nazis. Grandson of Sigmund, brother of Clement. He was appointed a Companion of Ho...

Person, Art, Germany

1 memorial
Sir John Everett Millais

Sir John Everett Millais

Born Southampton. A prodigy, the youngest ever pupil at the Royal Academy School. Co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His friendship with Ruskin did not survive marrying the ex-Mrs Ruskin...

Person, Art, Benefactor

5 memorials