Thomas Overton fl.1818-1838 British School 19th.Century Watercolour drawing. Portrait of Lady Blanche Georgiana Howard Countess of Burlington 1812-1840. Wearing Coronation robes. Signed and dated 1837. Some slight old mount staining and surface marks to no real detriment.
Lady Blanche was the eighth child of George Howard 6th. Earl of Carlisle and his wife Georgiana the sister of the 6th Duke of Devonshire. The Duke favoured a marriage between his heir, William Cavendish, and his niece. The Duke felt Blanche had humility and lacked self-consciousness, while William was intelligent but overly serious. Blanche married William Cavendish on 6 August 1829, a few years prior to his inheriting the Earldom of Burlington, It would prove to be a happy marriage, as the pair shared the same political views and deeply religious values. The couple had five children, one of whom died in infancy. From 1838 until her death, the Countess was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria. Blanche died at the age of 28, and was deeply mourned by both her husband and her uncle. She and her husband are both interred at St Peter's Church, Edensor in accordance with Cavendish family tradition. An inscription in the Painted Hall at Chatsworth commemorates her. The 6th Duke completed his reconstruction of the house in the year of her death, 1840, and constructed an "Urn to Blanche" at the top of the Long Walk in the gardens.