DUCHESS OF

ELIZABETH

See also:

• KINGSTON
• DUCHESS OF ELIZABETH KINGSTON (1720-1788)
• KINGSTON, WILLIAM HENRY GILES (1814-188o)

KINGSTON (1720-1788)  , sometimes called countess of Bristol, was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Chudleigh (d . 1726), and was appointed maid of honour to Augusta, princess of Wales, in 1743, probably through the good offices of her friend, William Pulteney, earl of Bath . Being a very beautiful woman Miss Chudleigh did not lack admirers, among whom were James, 6th duke of Hamilton, and Augustus John Hervey, afterwards 3rd earl of Bristol . Hamilton, how-ever, left England, and on the 4th of August 1744 she was privately married to Hervey at Lainston, near Winchester . Both husband and wife being poor, their union was kept secret to enable Elizabeth to retain her post at court, while Hervey, who was a naval officer, rejoined his ship, returning to England towards the close of 1746 . The marriage was a very unhappy one, and the pair soon ceased to live. together; but when it appeared probable that Hervey would succeed his brother as earl of Bristol, his wife took steps to obtain proof of her marriage . This did not, however, prevent her from becoming the mistress of Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd duke of Kingston, and she was not only a very prominent figure in London society, but in 1765 in Berlin she was honoured by the attentions of Frederick the Great . By this time Hervey wished for a divorce from his wife; but Elizabeth, although equally anxious to be free, was unwilling to face the publicity attendant upon this step . However she began a suit of jactitation against Hervey . This case was doubt-less collusive, and after Elizabeth had sworn she was unmarried, he court in February 1769 pronounced her a spinster . Within a month she married Kingston, who died four years later, leaving her all his property on condition that she remained a widow . Visiting Rome the duchess was received with honour by Clement XIV.; after which she hurried back to England to defend herself from a charge of bigamy, which had been preferred against her by Kingston's nephew, Evelyn Meadows (d .

1826) . The

house of Lords in 1776 found her guilty, and retaining her fortune she hurriedly left England to avoid further proceedings on the part of the Meadows family, who had a reversionary interest in the Kingston estates . She lived for a time in Calais, and then repaired to St Petersburg, near which city she bought an estate which she named " Chudleigh." Afterwards she resided in Paris, Rome, and elsewhere, and died in Paris on the 26th of August 1788 . The duchess was a coarse and licentious woman, and was ridiculed as Kitty Crocodile by the comedian Samuel Foote in a play A Trip to Calais, which, however, he was not allowed to produce . She is said to have been the original of Thackeray's characters, Beatrice and Baroness Bernstein . There is an account of the duchess in J . H . Jesse's Memoirs of the Court of England 1688-176o, vol. iv . (1901) .