Emily Lennox, Duchess of Leinster

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(b. Oct. 6, 1731, London, England – d. March 27, 1814, Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London )

Gender: F

Emily Lennox (1731-1814) was the daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (an illegitimate son of Charles II by his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth), and Lady Sarah Cadogan. She and her sisters Caroline, Sarah, Louisa and Cecilia were famed in their youth for their beauty and high spirits. In 1747, at the age of fifteen, Emily married James FitzGerald (1722-1773), 20th Earl of Kildare, who was created 1st Duke of Leinster in 1766; they had nineteen children and lived at Leinster House in Dublin. (When in London, she stayed at Holland House with her sister, Lady Caroline Fox.) Following her husband’s death, she shocked society by marrying William Ogilvie (1740-1832), her children’s tutor, who was nine years her junior. It is generally accepted that George Simon FitzGerald (1773-1783), although recognized as the youngest son of the Duke, was in fact Ogilvie’s child. She had three daughters by Ogilvie after their marriage, and died at the age of eighty-three, having outlived fourteen of her children.

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Mentioned in 2 letters

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