Anyone who has watched 'The Duchess', the 2008 film adaptation of Amanda Foreman's excellent biography of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, will be aware of the sad parallels between the life of Georgiana and Lady Diana Spencer. Georgiana's maiden name was Spencer; she was Diana's four times great aunt. Spencer Street, Spencer Park and the former Spencer Park House took their names from the Spencer family. In 1781, Lady Lavinia Bingham, daughter of Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan, married George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer. George was Georgiana's brother.
Foreman's research does not paint Lavinia in a particularly favourable light. George was smitten by her, and though she came without the customary dowry, his parents approved of the match. Lavinia succeeded in marrying above her station. House Spencer was a long-established wealthy and powerful English aristocratic family with many branches and titles. The Binghams, on the other hand, were mere Irish peers whose stock had been in decline for some time.
Georgiana was a socialite, author, and fashionista. She was also politically active. In 1774 at the age of seventeen, she married William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. He was eight years her senior. Given Cavendish's status and wealth, the match was considered favourable. The marriage, however, was loveless, and though Georgiana gave Cavendish the expected male heir, Cavendish took Georgiana's friend as his mistress. Georgiana turned to Charles Grey, the future prime minister and father of the English tea blend Earl Grey. Georgiana bore him a daughter, but Grey married Mary Ponsonby. Their sixteen children included Henry, 3rd Earl Grey. He oversaw the Famine Orphan Girl's Emigration Scheme, under which thousands of young girls, including many from Mayo, were sent to Australia.
The Cavendish family were among the wealthiest in England. Their interests included land and public positions in Ireland. The 5th Duke shared an ancestor with Frederick Cavendish, founder of the Connaught Telegraph. Frederick Cavendish's early life in Dublin was plagued with controversy and alleged criminality that brought embarrassment to his family. Cavendish's second marriage in 1817 to Agnes Catherine MacDonnell of Springfield House took him to Castlebar. For more than a quarter of a century, he was a thorn in the side of the Binghams, Brownes, O'Malleys and other aristocratic land-owning families. Much to the dismay of his family and members of his own class, Cavendish broke ranks and sided with the oppressed and disenfranchised.
Frederick Cavendish's legacy is multi-faceted. He recorded history and made history. He played a crucial role in establishing a free press in the west of Ireland. He also left the people of Mayo with a version of their history they would not otherwise have. Other legacies include Cavendish Lane and Cavendish House in Castlebar. Beyond the eye-pleasing architecture and street names like Richard Street, Charles Street, and Lucan Street, the legacies of the Binghams are listed under quite different headings. The cruel and reprehensible deeds of Sir Richard Bingham (1528-1595 ) and George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan (1800-1888 ), are amongst the most heinous perpetrated on the island of Ireland.
Those writing about the Castlebar Spencer connection emphasise the link with Lady Diana Spencer. There are, however, other more noteworthy Spencer connections that merit a mention in the interest of telling the whole story. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, a Spencer descendent and distant cousin of Lady Diana, unleashed the Black and Tans in Ireland during the War of Independence. Their atrocities in Mayo are a matter of public record.
In 1882, John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, and lord lieutenant of Ireland, paid for fabricated witness testimony to secure a guilty verdict against Maolra Seoighe in the Maamtrasna murder trials. Seoighe declared his innocence but was hanged. Earlier that year, Spencer had travelled to Dublin with Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish, son of William Cavendish, 7th Earl of Devonshire. On 6 May, Cavendish and Permanent Undersecretary, Thomas Henry Burke, were killed by the Irish National Invincibles while walking to the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park, where John Spencer was residing.
Cavendish Lane and Spencer Street are more than geographical locations. Embedded in these street names are long, complex, and fascinating histories.
