Grace Elliott | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Grace Elliott by Thomas Gainsborough, circa 1778 (in theFrick Collection) | |
| Born | Grace Dalrymple c. 1754 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 16 May 1823(1823-05-16) (aged 68–69) Ville d'Avray, France |
| Burial place | Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation(s) | Writer,courtesan, spy |
| Known for | mistress of theLouis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans |
| Notable work | Journal of my life during the French Revolution |
| Spouse | Sir John Eliot (divorced) |
| Children | Georgina Seymour |
| Parent(s) | Grisel Craw (mother) Hew Dalrymple (father) |
Grace Dalrymple Elliott (c. 1754 – 16 May 1823) was a Scottish courtesan, writer and spy resident in Paris during theFrench Revolution. She was an eyewitness to events detailed in her memoirs,Journal of my life during the French Revolution (Ma Vie sous la Révolution) published posthumously in 1859.[1][2] She wasmistress, first to the futureGeorge IV, by whom she is said to have borne an illegitimate daughter, and then to theDuke of Orléans. Elliott trafficked correspondence and helped condemned Royalists and members of theFrench nobility escape from theFirst French Republic during theReign of Terror. She was arrested several times but managed to avoid theguillotine, and was released following themilitary coup that ended the Terror and resulted in the execution ofRobespierre.
In the acclaimed but widely controversial 2001 film adaptation of her memoirs byFrench New Wave directorÉric Rohmer asThe Lady and the Duke, Grace Elliot was played by English actressLucy Russell.
Elliott was born probably in Edinburgh about 1754, the youngest daughter of Grissel Brown (died 30 September 1767)[3] andHew Dalrymple (died 1774), anEdinburgh advocate concerned in the greatDouglas case. Her parents separated around the time of her birth, and she was most likely brought up at her grandparents' house.[4]
She was educated in a French convent, and on her return to Scotland, was introduced by her father into Edinburgh society. Her beauty made such an impression onJohn Eliot, a prominent and wealthy physician, that he made her an offer of marriage in 1771. She accepted, although Eliot was about 18 years her senior. They were married on 19 October 1771 in London, when she was 17. The couple entered fashionable society, but eventually grew apart due to their difference in age and interests.[2] In 1774 Elliott met and fell in love withLord Valentia, with whom she entered into an affair. Convinced of his wife's infidelity, John Eliot had the couple followed and eventually sued Valentia forcriminal conversation (adultery). He received £12,000 in damages before successfully obtaining a divorce.
With her social reputation destroyed, Elliott became recognised as a member of thedemimonde and forced to earn her living as a professional mistress orcourtesan. She was then taken by her brother to a French convent, but she seems to have been brought back almost immediately byLord Cholmondeley, who became her lover and remained one of her principal protectors throughout her life.
Having met Lord Cholmondeley at thePantheon in 1776, she began a liaison with him that lasted three years. Their friends included the courtesansGertrude Mahon andKitty Frederick.[5]Thomas Gainsborough painted two portraits of her in 1778, which are in theFrick Collection and theMetropolitan Museum of Art. In 1782, she had a short, concealed intrigue with thePrince of Wales (afterwardsGeorge IV) and gave birth to a daughter on 30 March 1782, who was baptised at St Marylebone as Georgiana Augusta Frederica Seymour (d. 1813) but used the name Georgina Seymour.
Elliott declared that the Prince was the father of her child andThe Morning Post stated in January 1782 that he admitted responsibility. However, the child was dark in complexion, and when she was first shown to the Prince, he is said to have remarked, "To convince me that this is my girl they must first prove that black is white."[6]
The Prince and many others regarded Lord Cholmondeley as the father of the girl, although the Prince's friends said thatCharles William Wyndham (brother of Lord Egremont), whom she was thought to resemble, claimed paternity. Yet others thought she might have been fathered byGeorge Selwyn. Lord Cholmondeley brought up the girl, and after her early death in 1813, looked after her only child.
George, Prince of Wales, introduced her to the FrenchDuke of Orleans in 1784 and by 1786, she had permanently set up residence in Paris and become one of Orleans' recognised mistresses. In exchange for her companionship, the Duke granted her a home on the Rue Miromesnil and a property inMeudon, to the south of Paris. During this period Elliott also pursued liaisons with theDuke de Fitz-James and thePrince of Conde.[8]
Much of what is known about Elliott's life in France is recorded in her memoirs,Journal of my life during the French Revolution (Richard Bentley, 1859).[9] Although there are a number of inconsistencies in her account, her work has become one of the best-known English-language accounts ofThe Terror, documenting the movements of the Duke of Orleans and those within his aristocraticJacobin circle at thePalais-Royal. During her life in Paris, Elliott witnessed the horror of theSeptember massacres and the body of thePrincess de Lamballe carried through the streets. Although Elliott was an associate of the Duke of Orleans (who later took the name Philippe Égalité), her royalist sympathies soon became widely known throughout her district, and her home was frequently searched. It has been recently shown that Elliott was trafficking correspondence on behalf of the British government and assisting in the transportation of messages between Paris and members of the exiled French court inCoblenz and in Belgium.[1][2]
Elliott risked her life several times to assist and hide aristocrats pursued by the Revolutionary government. Shortly after theAssault on the Tuileries Palace, on 10 August 1792, Elliott hid the injuredMarquis de Champcentz by physically carrying him to her house on the Rue Miromesnil at great risk. During a search of her home, she placed him between the mattresses of her bed and feigned illness. On another occasion, Elliott agreed to take in and hide at her home in Meudon Madame de Perigord and her two children, who were attempting to flee to England. She helped to arrange false travel documents for several people wishing to escape the Revolution. After hiding Champcentz in the attic of her home in Meudon, she managed to fix his passage out of France. In the spring of 1793, however, she was arrested and imprisoned and spent the rest of the Terror in prisons, including theRecollets and the Carmes, where she claims to have metJoséphine de Beauharnais, although this has been questioned by historians. Her writings detail her harrowing prison experiences, the violent coercion she experienced, and the illness and deprivation endured by her fellow prisoners.
Although many of her friends met their deaths, includingMadame du Barry, Elliott did not. She narrowly avoided death and was released after theReign of Terror came to an end, not before she had been confined in a total of four different prisons by the Republican government. In later years, there were rumours that she had an attachment withNapoleon Bonaparte, but had rejected his offer of marriage. She died a wealthy woman atVille d'Avray, in present-dayHauts-de-Seine, in May 1823, while a lodger with the commune's mayor.[10]
She was buried inPère Lachaise Cemetery.[11]
A dramatic portrayal of part of her life is contained inEric Rohmer's 2001historical drama anddystopian filmThe Lady and the Duke. English actressLucy Russell played Elliott andJean-Claude Dreyfus played the Duke of Orleans. The film received praise for its use of digital technology to recreate 18th-century Paris, but was also attacked in France for its graphic violence and harsh criticism ofrevolutionary terror and some even accused the film of being aristocratic propaganda.[12] When asked about the controversy, lead actressLucy Russell replied: "There does seem to be a great problem, not just in France, but every country has problems facing up to the nasty parts of its history. But there's a reason it was calledthe Terror."[13]
Grace Elliott also appears as a major character inHallie Rubenhold's novelThe French Lesson (Doubleday, 2016).
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Alger, John Goldworth (1889). "Elliott, Grace Dalrymple". InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 17. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
