DEVONSHIRE, Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of.

Autograph Letter Signed ‘Eliz. Foster’ as Lady Elizabeth Foster, to Messrs. Stewart in Aldermanbury, referring to bank drafts given to Lady Bessborough for “a milliner of the name of Chapman”, leaving a balance for the Christmas quarter of 161 pounds, which Lady Foster would like to receive in the next day or two and “I should wish it seal’d  up if possible in 20 and 10£ notes”. 1 page 8 x 6 inches, folds, with the address leaf. Devonshire House, 23 December 1807.

Elizabeth (‘Bess’) Foster (1758-1824), daughter of the 4th Earl of Bristol, became the second wife of the 5th Duke of Devonshire in 1809, but took over the running of Devonshire House from 1806, after the death of Georgiana. Lady Elizabeth Foster,had been the close friend of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. After the death of her husband in 1811, she resided in Rome as a famous society hostess and patron of the arts.