Elizabeth Milbanke Lamb, Lady Melbourne (1751–1818)

Elizabeth Milbanke was the daughter of Yorkshire landowner and politician. In 1769, she married the lawyer Peniston Lamb, who was later made 1st Viscount Melbourne, with whom she had six children. She became a famous Whig hostess who entertained the beau monde, including such figures as Charles James Fox, George Canning, and Charles Grey. It's said that the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan used her witty repartee for the character of Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal (1777). Lady Melbourne had an affair with George, Prince of Wales, during the period 1780-1784. She later conducted a famous correspondence with the poet Lord Byron, who married her niece Annabella Milbanke. She was a close friend and advisor of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Lady Melbourne's son William became Prime Minister of Britain in 1834 and a mentor to the young Queen Victoria.