Lavinia (Bingham), Countess Spencer

British, 1762 - 1831

BiographyLavinia Bingham was born on July 27, 1762 at Castlebar in County Mayo, Ireland, the eldest of four children of Sir Charles (1735-1799) and Lady Margaret (Smith) Bingham (d. 1814). Her mother, a gifted artist tutored by Horace Walpole, imparted her facility and connoisseurship to her daughters, particularly Lavinia, who gained sophistication through family trips to Paris (1776), Rome (1778), and Florence (1778). The girls were greatly admired in Europe, and Horace Mann reported that "by their judgment of the pictures and all the collection in the Gallery [they] are looked upon as prodigies at their age." Lavinia's father was created 1st Baron Lucan in the Irish Peerage in 1776, but possessed no fortune. Rather, it was Lavinia's spritely wit and frank intelligence that attracted a distinguished suitor, George John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (1758-1834), eldest son of the Earl and Countess Spencer and brother of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Lavinia was eighteen years old when they married on March 6, 1781. By all reports, it was a love-match made over the practical objections of the groom's parents. Her artistic and musical gifts were celebrated by William Jones in "The Muse Recalled, An Ode, Occasioned by the Nuptials of Lord Viscount Althorp and Miss Lavinia Bingham" (1781). Following the death of Lord Althorp's father on October 23, 1783, the couple became 2nd Earl and Countess Spencer, and their son, John Charles Spencer, who was born on May 30, 1782, acquired the title of Viscount Althorp. Countess Spencer gave birth to four other sons and three daughters. Contemporary commentary attests to the disconcerting complexity of her character, which mingled mental acuity, a sparkling and vivacious manner, and cultural refinement with what her sister-in-law, Henrietta, Countess of Bessborough, termed "a coarseness of mind, as well as of expression, that scarce any talent makes up for, and...intolerance so out of all measure--friend, relation, stranger, inmate all alike--the most extravagant abuse, the most unsparing scrutiny."
Viscount Althorp's early education was neglected while his mother devoted herself to social engagements and his father pursued politics. A domestic servant reportedly taught him to read. Sent to Harrow at the age of eight, he composed affectionate letters to his father which attest to his sensitive nature and enthusiasm for country life. In 1800 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he initially eschewed learning in favor of hunting and racing. His mother's admonishments prompted the closer application that brought academic distinction. After obtaining his degree in 1802, he traveled for several months in Italy and France, but gained little from the experience, lacking his mother's affinity for foreign languages, art, and society. Awkward and reserved, Lord Althorp preferred sporting and agricultural activities in the country to social and political pursuits in town. Nevertheless, he rose to political prominence through painfully self-imposed discipline and industry. A supporter of the Whig party, he served as Member of Parliament for Okehampton (1804-6), St. Alban's (1806), Northamptonshire (1806-32), and South Northants (1832-34). In these and other public positions his integrity earned the respect and trust of allies and opponents alike. On April 14, 1814 he married Esther Acklom (1788-1818), who had recently inherited an estate of £10,000 from her father Richard Acklom (d. 1812) of Wiseton Hall, near Bawtry, Nottingham. Her death on June 11, 1818, after delivering a stillborn child, reportedly broke his heart and he never remarried. His mother died on June 8, 1831, and on his father's death on November 10, 1834, he acceded as 3rd Earl Spencer. Ignoring fervent entreaties that he remain in public life, Lord Spencer retired from the political arena that had become increasingly unpleasant to him and spent his last years in frugal rural retirement. He died without issue on October 1, 1845 at Wiseton Hall and was buried with his wife at Brington, near Althorp House, Northamptonshire.

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