User:Knickerb/Lily Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough

New article name goes here new article content ... Lily Duchess of Marlborough (1854—1909)

The second wife of the eighth Duke of Marlborough was born Eliza Warren Price in Troy, New York in 1854. She was the daughter of a naval career officer, Cicero Price, who attained the grade of commodore in 1866, and his wife, Elizabeth Warren, from a respected, upper middle-class family in Troy. Lily’s childhood was passed between Troy and Washington, D. C.

In 1879 Lily wed Louis Hamersley (1840—83), a wealthy New York City resident with a rich portfolio of Manhattan real estate investments. Louis died of typhoid fever three-and-a-half years after this marriage, leaving his fortune in trust to Lily. It was not until 1891 that the will was settled in her favor after a protracted attempt on the part of his extended family to break his will.

In 1888 Lily wed the divorced Eighth Duke of Marlborough as his second wife. Her marriage to a divorced man, despite his aristocratic title, led to an estrangement from her family that was never resolved. The marriage proved a surprising success, but lasted for only four years before the duke's sudden death in 1892.

In 1895 Lily contracted a third marriage to Lord William Beresford (1847—1900). Lord William was an ebullient personality and a recipient of the VIC with impeccable social credentials. He fathered Lily’s only child, born when she was forty-two. Beresford died in 1900. Lily, a remarkably resilient and optimistic woman, devoted herself before her 1909 death to the town of Dorking where she lived on an important estate. Deepdene. After her death, she was eulogized as “an American lady who had won for herself a secure place in the affections of the British people. Of handsome and dignified presence, she was always a remarkable figure in society. Kind-natured, hospitable, and generous, she had crowds of friends.”