User:Don Argus jr/Eliza Warren Price

Eliza Warren Price (Jane) Lilian Warren Price http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Lilian_Warren_Price00.jpg

Eliza Warren Price (1854-1909), born in Troy, New York and known as Lily, became Lily Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1854-1909), the second wife of George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough.

Her father was Commodore Cicero Price, a United States naval officer from Lancaster, Kentucky. Her mother descended from two leading families of Troy, but Lily was raised primarily in Washington, D. C. In 1879 she married Louis Carré Hamersley, a New York real-estate millionaire who left Lily his fortune upon his sudden death three years later. Hamersley's family attempted to break his will, characterizing Lily in an unflattering light that undermined her social position in New York.

An offer of marriage from the eighth Duke of Marlborough provided her with a chance to start afresh on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The civil marriage took place on 29 June 1888 at New York City Hall, The Mayor of New York City, Abram S. Hewitt, performed the ceremony. A religious ceremony followed the same day, in the chancel of Tabernacle Baptist Church and presided over by its minister, Dr. Daniel C. Potter. There were no issue from this marriage. Marlborough died in 1892.

On 30 April 1895 Lily married again, this time was an ebullient, socially impeccable Irish-Anglo lord, Lieut.-Col. Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford VC KCIE, recently returned from government service in India, who was said to glow “with some of the popularity of modern film stars.” Thanks to Lily’s resources and his partnerships with two wealthy Americans, he was able to collect a stable of racehorses and became one of the most owners in England. Lily took on new roles: first-time motherhood at the age of forty-two and a reputation as a “well-known racingwoman.” But less than five years later, she was once again a widow.

Death	11 January 1909 Deepdene, Dorking, Surrey