Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (June 7, 1757–March 30, 1806), born Georgiana Spencer, was the first wife of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and mother of William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Her father, John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, was a great-grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Her niece was Lady Caroline Lamb. Among the descendants of her family are the present Duke of Devonshire (via her granddaughter), Diana, Princess of Wales (born Lady Diana Spencer), Jonathan Dearness and Sarah, Duchess of York (via her illegitimate child Eliza Courtney).

The
strange relationship of the fifth Duchess of Devonshire, her husband
and the Lady Elizabeth Foster has fascinated historians for decades,
and there have been at least three major biographies written on their
relationship in the last twenty years. Even on her own though the
Duchess would have been a fascinating character to study.
She was born into
priveledge, the first child of three of John, the first Earl Spencer
and his ambitious wife, Georgiana Poyntz. The Countess encouraged the
friendship with the Devonshire's which led to Georgiana's marriage at
the age of 17 to the fifth Duke of Devonshire.

Georgiana was accounted
a great beauty as the picture at the top of the page by Reynolds from
1780 attests. She matched that with an easy going nature. She remained
in constant correspondence with her mother throughout her life and the
early letters show some signs of her mother's uneasiness at Georgiana's
malleable nature and the influences she was allowing herself to be
drawn under, such as Charles FoX, the renowned politician and gambler.

The fourth Duke of
Devonshire had been both politically ambitious and astute, his son did
not inherit these energies or ambitions he was a man of few words who
was happiest at home with his dogs, a habit that in the Devonshire
house set earned him the nickname of 'Canis'. Devonshire house remained
the centre of whig politics,
a place for politicians of the day to meet socially and indeed they
did, many meetings were achieved under the informal auspices of a
Devonshire house party. During one of the Duchess's lying-in periods at
the end of a pregnancy one ambassador complained in a letter that he
was unable to conduct his business as he could not meet those
politicians that he wanted to because he could not casually come across
them as he was used to at the house parties.

She was also the first woman to campaign for an candidate in an election in 1784, Charles Fox
Georgiana wrote one novel in 1780, 'The Sylph' which has been described as being above the ordinary. It is possible that her
  inability to become pregnant after 6 years of marriage and her husband's lack of demonstrative affection was a key motivation
  to write. There is no reference to writing it in any of her letters to her mother at the time.

Georgiana did immerse
herself in the social whirl, an acknowledged beauty and leader of
fashion she developed the extreme style of high wigs topped with long
feathers. These head-dresses were so cumbersomely large that women
would have to crouch on the floor of couches to prevent them being
crushed against the roof, and were in danger of catching on fire in
ballrooms as they brushed the ceiling chandleliers.

The Devonshire House
group set fashion, and they had their own 'slanguage' which altered
words, or provided nicknames for people they knew. It was known as the
'Devonshire Drawl' and those in fashion affected it, so such words like
yellow became pronounced 'yaller'

In 1782 the
Devonshire's travelled to Bath and their met the woman that would be
with them for the rest of their lives, Lady Elizabeth Foster, or 'Bess'
as she was known.

Bess ingratiated
herself into the Devonshire household, became the Duchess's lifelong
confidant and later mistress to the Duke. They lived together as a
menage a trois for 25 years, and soon after Georgiana died, Bess
persuaded the duke to marry her and finally legalise their
relationship, but that is in the future.

   The Duchess had her first child, Georgiana (or little G as she was known in the family) in 1783. In 1785 both Bess and the
   duchess were pregnant by the duke, both had daughters. Harriet (or Hary-O as she was called) was named for her aunt, the
   duchess's sister Henrietta, Lady Bessborough. Bess's daughter, Caroline St Jules, spent her first few years in Europe and
   France until Bess could bring her back.

Bess had a son,
Augustus, 2 years later, but the Duchess failed to get pregnant again,
a problem shared by the three and probably much discussed if their
correspondence is anything to go by, Bess refers to it also in her
diaries. So when the Duchess and Bess decided to travel to Paris in
1789 and the future sixth Duke of Devonshire was born there, it aroused
gossip that the child was perhaps the love child of Bess and the Duke,
and not in fact the Duchess's at all. It was certainly an odd time to
pleasure tripping in France. Georgiana was an intimate of
Marie-Antoinette but France was in political unrest and hardly the
place for a pregnant woman to be travelling without the protection of
her husband too. In May 1790 the Duchess was delivered of a son, the
Marquis of Hartington, later the 6th Duke of Devonshire.

An interesting link
here is that the doctor in attendance, Dr Croft, to the Duchess's
lying-in was not well known at the time, which added to the gossip -
(why was a top doctor not attending the birth?). 28 years later he was
the man in charge of Princess Charlotte's bungled child-birth, and bore
the responsibility for her death, commiting suicide soon after.

It is probably
unlikely that the Marquis of Hartington, or Hart as he was known, was
illegitimate, but the strange circumstances did not help to dispel
rumours which lingered up until Hart's death in 1858.

The Duchess was
haunted by debt all her life. Her addiction to gambling and the
extravagent parties were pleasure and her bane. She borrowed heavily
from her friends, and used her influence to borrow more from such
people as Thomas Coutts of Coutts bank. She borrowed money on the tacit
agreement that she would introduce Coutts' daughter's into society. On
her death she left a note to her son to pleading that he should make
sure the Duke honoured her debts which amounted to almost 20 thousand
pounds.

One other scandal accompanies the Duchess. She had one known affair, with the Charles Grey later 2nd Earl Grey. Their was one
child from this union, Eliza Couteney, who was brought up by the 1st Earl Grey as Charles' sister.

The household settled
down into a semblance of domestic bliss and quietitude in the mid
1790's. The Duchess's health had not been good and there had been some
problems in the late 1780's. Now she seemed fail suddenly. She had some
kind of ulcer or infection in one eye and their were worries that she
wouldn't regain her sight, she was frequently bled and leeches were
applied to eyeball. Her appearance contemporaries noted was 'much
altered'. Her complexion coarse, one eye gone and her neck immense, she
was only 40.
         Headaches and failing eyesight plagued her for the rest of her life.
The Duchess's fame was so great that when news that she was dying
spread in 1806 a large crowd gathered at the gates to Devonshire house
in Picadilly for news.

Film portrayals

• The DuchesS (2008), played by Keira Knightley. The film, directed by Saul Dibb, is based on the biography Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman.

• The Divine Lady (1929), played by Evelyn Hall.

• Mrs Fitzherbert (1947), played by Mary Clare.

links : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgiana_Spencer
          www.theduchessmovie.com/#/?page=explore
ENJOY IT!

Queen
        Victoria    (1819-1901)

"Royalty is a duty not a pleasure".

---

       Victoria was the daughter of Edward, the Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. She was born in Kensington Palace in London on May 24th, 1819. Edward died when Victoria was but eight months old, upon which her mother enacted
a strict regimen that shunned the courts of Victoria's uncles, George IV and William IV.

            In 1837 Queen Victoria took the throne after the death of her uncle
    William IV. Due to her secluded childhood, she displayed a personality marked by strong prejudices and a willful stubbornness.

Barely eighteen, she refused any further influence from her domineering mother and
    ruled in her own stead. Popular respect for the Crown was at a low point at her
    coronation, but the modest and straightforward young Queen won the hearts of her subjects.
    She wished to be informed of political matters, although she had no direct input in policy
    decisions. The Reform Act of 1832 had set the standard of legislative authority residing
    in the House of Lords, with executive authority resting within a cabinet
    formed of members of the House of Commons; the monarch was essentially removed from the
    loop. She respected and worked well with Lord Melbourne (Prime Minister in the early years
    of her reign) and England grew both socially and economically.


            On Feb 10th, 1840, only three years after taking the throne, Victoria took her first vow and married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Their relationship was one of great love and admiration. Together they bore nine children - four sons and five
    daughters: Victoria, Bertie, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and Beatrice.

       Prince Albert replaced Melbourne as the dominant male influence in Victoria's life. She was thoroughly devoted to him, and completely submitted to his will. Victoria did nothing without her husband's approval. Albert assisted in her royal duties. He introduced a
    strict decorum in court and made a point of straitlaced behavior. Albert also gave a more conservative tinge to Victoria’s politics. If Victoria was to insistently interject her opinions and make her views felt in the cabinet, it was only
    because of Albert’s teachings of hard work.

    The general public, however, was not enamored with the German prince; he was excluded from holding any official political position, was never granted a title of peerage and was
    named Prince Consort only after seventeen years of marriage.. His interests in art, science, and industry spurred him to organize the Crystal Palace
    Exhibition in 1851, a highly profitable industrial convention.

    Reflecting back into her childhood, Victoria was always prone to self pity  On Dec. 14th 1861 Albert died from typhoid fever at Windsor Castle. Victoria remained in self-imposed seclusion for ten years. This genuine, but obsessive mourning kept her occupied for the rest of her life and played an important role in the evolution of what would become the Victorian mentality.

         Her popularity was at its lowest by 1870, but it steadily increased thereafter until her death. In 1876 she was crowned Empress of India by Disraeli. In 1887 Victoria’s Golden Jubilee was a grand national celebration of her 50th year as Queen. The Golden Jubilee brought her out of her shell, and she once again embraced public life. She toured English possessions and even visited France (the first
    English monarch to do so since the coronation of Henry VI in 1431).

    Victoria's long reign witnessed an evolution in English politics and the expansion of the British Empire, as well as political and social reforms on the continent. France had known two dynasties and embraced Republicanism, Spain had seen three monarchs and both Italy and Germany had united their separate principalities into national coalitions. Even in her dotage, she maintained a youthful energy and optimism that infected the English population as a whole.

    The national pride connected with the name of Victoria - the term Victorian England,
    for example, stemmed from the Queen's ethics and personal tastes, which generally
    reflected those of the middle class.

JOSEPHINE BAKER

Baker, Josephine (1906 - 1975)

NAME: Freda
          McDonald aka Josephine Baker

BIRTH DATE:
          1906

BIRTH PLACE:
          St. Louis, Missouri

EDUCATION: Dropped
          out of school at the age of 12.

FAMILY BACKGROUND:
                     Josephine Baker's mother was Carrie McDonald and her father was Eddie Carson. Arthur Martin was her stepfather. Her siblings were Richard, Margaret and Willie Mae. Josephine's first husband was Willie Wells her second husband was Willie Baker; her third husband was Jean Lion; and, her fourth husband was orchestra leader Jo Bouillon. Her twelve adopted children were: Akio (male), Janot (male), Luis (male), Jari(male), Jean-Claude (male), Moise (male), Brahim (male), Marianne (female),
          Koffi (male), Mara (male), Noel (male), Stellina (female). Josephine's last marriage was to American Artist Robert Brady.(her "Rainbow Tribe")

           She performed on Broadway in 1922 ("Shuffle Along") and was a star by 1924 ("Chocolate Dandies").In 1925 she went to Paris, and became famous for her performances in the Revue Negre on the stage of the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. Even critics who gave the show negative reviews thought highly of Baker's performance.

     She performed in the Folies Bergere, and during the 1926-27 season she
was doing her popular Banana Dance. Finding more acceptance as a "colored"
performer in France then she had in the United States, she stayed in Paris.

       Baker also sang.  In July, 1930 she recorded 6 songs for Columbia
records. It was noted that while she never suffered from stage fright when
performing before an audience, if the technicians became too engrossed in
their work to respond to
her she froze.

        Baker is considered to be one of the most sensual performers of all
times.  She inspired artwork by Alexander Calder and Georges Rouault.
Writers, including ee cummings and Ernest Hemingway, also found her work
inspiring.

          She served with the French Red Cross during WWII.  With the fall of
France in 1940 she became active in the resistance movement.  Using her
career as a cover she became an intelligence agent.  In 1961 she received the
Legion d'Honneur for her efforts from Charles deGaulle.

         Baker's celebrity allowed her to travel much more freely then most people during that time period.  She once carried military intelligence reports out of France to Portugal, written in invisible ink on her sheet music.  She also used her charm to persuade foreign consulates to process visas for  associates, some of who traveled with her as a cover.She was awarded the Croix de Guerre, and received a Medal of the
Resistance in 1946.

         Her resistance activities were curtailed by a serious illness for which she was hospitalized in the Mers Sultan Clinic in Casablanca from June 1941 until December 1942.

          She often combined performance with civil rights activism, refusing to perform in clubs that would not permit an integrated audience. Her performances, which usually included songs in a number of languages, can be viewed as an extension of her personal philosophy and belief in racial harmony.

              The week before her death in 1975 she appeared on the stage in a tribute
performance, still very much a captivating performer at 69. She died quietly, in her sleep, of a cerebral hemorrhage.

      
         Much of what we know about Cleopatra was written after her death when
it was politically expedient to portray her as a threat to Rome and its
stability. Thus, some of what we know about Cleopatra may have been
exaggerated or misrepresented by those sources. Cassius Dio, one of the
ancient sources that tell her story, summarizes her story as "She
captivated the two greatest Romans of her day, and because of the third
she destroyed herself."

Early Years

      During Cleopatra's early years, her father tried to maintain his failing power in Egypt by bribing powerful Romans. Ptolemy XII was reportedly the son of a concubine instead of a royal wife. When Ptolemy XII went to Rome in 58 BCE, his wife, Cleopatra VI Tryphaina, and his eldest daughter, Berenice IV, assumed the rulership jointly. When he returned, apparently Cleopatra VI had died, and with the help of Roman forces, Ptolemy XII regained his throne and executed Berenice. Ptolemy then married his son, about 9 years old, to his remaining daughter, Cleopatra, who was by time about eighteen.

Early Rule

Cleopatra apparently attempted to rule alone, or at least not equally with her much-younger brother. In 48 BCE, Cleopatra was pushed out of power by ministers. At the same time, Pompey -- with whom Ptolemy XII had allied himself -- appeared in Egypt, chased by forces of Julius Caesar. Pompey was assassinated by Ptolemy XIII's supporters. A sister of Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII declared herself ruler as Arsinoe IV.

Cleopatra and Julius Caesar

Cleopatra, according to the stories, had herself delivered to Julius Caesar's presence in a rug and won his support. Ptolemy XIII died in a battle with Caesar, and Caesar restored Cleopatra to power in Egypt, along with her brother Ptolemy XIV as co-ruler.

        In 46 BCE, Cleopatra named her newborn son Ptolemy Caesarion, emphasizing that this was the son of Julius Caesar. Caesar never formally accepted paternity, but he did take Cleopatra to Rome that year, also taking her sister, Arsinoe, and displaying her in Rome as a war captive. That he was already married (to Calpurnia) yet Cleopatra claimed to be his wife added to a climate in Rome that ended with
Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE. After Caesar's death, Cleopatra returned to Egypt, where her brother and co-ruler Ptolemy XIV died, probably assassinated by
Cleopatra. She established her son as her co-ruler Ptolemy XV Caesarion.

Cleopatra and Marc Antony

When the next Roman military governor of the region, Marc Antony,demanded her presence -- along with that of other rulers who were controlled by Rome -- she arrived dramatically in 41 BCE, and managed to convince him of her innocence of charges about her support of Caesar's supporters in Rome, captivated his interest, and gained his support.Antony spent a winter in Alexandria with Cleopatra (41-40 BCE), and then left. Cleopatra bore twins to Antony. He, meanwhile, went to Athens and, his wife Fulvia having died in 40 BCE, agreed to marry Octavia, the sister of his rival Octavius. They had a daughter in 39 BCE. In 37 BCE Antony returned to Antioch, Cleopatra joined him, and they went through a sort of marriage ceremony in 36 BCE. That same year, another son was born to them, Ptolemy Philadelphus.

      Marc Antony formally restored to Egypt -- and Cleopatra -- territory which the Ptolemy's had lost control of, including Cyprus and part of what is now Lebanon. Cleopatra returned to Alexandria and Antony joined her in 34 BCE after military victory. He affirmed the joint rulership of Cleopatra and her son, Caesarion, recognizing
Caesarion as the son of Julius Caesar.

     Antony's relationship with Cleopatra -- his supposed marriage and their children, and his granting of territory to her -- was used by Octavian to raise Roman concerns over his loyalties. Antony was able to use Cleopatra's financial support to oppose Octavian in the Battle of Actium (31 BCE), but missteps -- probably attributable to Cleopatra --
led to defeat.

       Cleopatra tried to get Octavian's support for her children's succession to power, but was unable to come to an agreement with him. In 30 BCE, Marc Antony killed himself, reportedly because he'd been told that Cleopatra had been killed, and when yet another attempt to keep power failed, Cleopatra killed herself.

Abraham (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם, Standard Avraham Tiberian ʾAḇrāhām Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom ; Arabic: ابراهيم‎, Ibrāhīm ; Ge'ez, ʾAbrəham) is a man featured in the Book of Genesis, as well as in parts of the Qur'an. Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions regard him as the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples.

          Abraham was the son of Terah and the grandson of Nahor. Abraham's brothers were named Nahor and Haran.^[1] According to Genesis, Abraham was brought by God from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. . According to Jewish tradition (based on the Anno Mundi era), Abraham lived AM 1948–2123 (1812 BCE to 1637 BCE). Christian traditional dates are about 2000 BCE to 1825 BCE.

     Judaism, Christianity and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions", because of the progenitor role Abraham plays in their holy books. In the Jewish tradition, he is called Avraham Avinuor "Abraham, our Father". God promised Abraham that through hisoffspring, all the nations of the world will come to be blessed (Genesis 12:3), interpreted in Christian tradition as a reference particularly to Christ. Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him father of the people of Israel through his son Isaac (cf. Exodus 6:3, Exodus 32:13). For Muslims, he is a prophet of Islam and the ancestor of Muhammad through his other son Ishmael - born to him by his wife's handmaiden, Hagar. Abraham is also a progenitor of the Semitic tribes of the Negev who trace their descent from their common ancestor Sheba (Genesis 10:28).

                Biblical narratives represent Abraham as a wealthy, powerful and
supremely virtuous man, but humanly flawed, and when afraid for
himself, miscalculating, and a sometimes deceiving and an inconsiderate
husband. But his central importance in the Book of Genesis, and his
portrait as a man favored by God, is unequivocal. Abraham's generations
(Hebrew: toledoth, translated to Greek: "Genesis") are presented as part of the crowning explanation of how the world has been fashioned by the hand of God, how the boundaries and relationships of peoples were established by Him, and how the Kingdom of God would be established through Abraham.

           As the father of Isaac , Abraham is ultimately the common ancestor of the Israelites. As the father of Ishmael, whose twelve sons became desert princes (most prominently, Nebaioth and Kedar), along with Midian, Sheba and other Arabian tribes (25:1-4), the Book of Genesis gives a portrait of Isaac's descendants as being surrounded by kindred peoples, who are also more often enemies. This is because the clans practiced intermarriage. are in the descending scale, perhaps of purity of blood, or as of purity of relationship, or of connectedness to Sarah: Sarah, her servant, her
husband's other wife. The Bible says of the Hebrew people: "Your father
was a wandering Syrian". Yet to Abraham's face the Hittites said, "You are a great chief among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs." (Genesis 23:4 and 5)

          Writers have regarded the life of Abraham in various ways. He has been viewed as a chieftain of the Amorites, as the head of a great Semitic migration from Mesopotamia; or, since Ur and Haran were seats of Moon-worship, he has been identified with a moon-god. From the character of the literary evidence and the locale of the stories it has been held that Abraham was originally associated with Hebron. The double name Abram/Abraham has even suggested that two personages have been combined in the Biblical narrative; although this does not explain the change
from Sarai to Sarah.

               The interesting discovery of the name Abi-ramu on Babylonian contracts of about 2000 BCE does not prove the Abraham of the Old Testament to be an historical person, even as the fact that there were Amorites in Babylonia at the same period does not make it certain that the 'patriarch' was one of their number.

              Many scholars claim, on the basis of archaeological and philological
evidence, that many stories in the Pentateuch, including the accounts
about Abraham and Moses, were written under King Josiah (7th century BCE) or King Hezekiah(8th century BCE) in order to provide a historical framework for the
monotheistic belief in Yahweh. Some scholars point out that the archives of neighboring countries with written records that survive, such as Egypt, Assyria, etc., show no trace of the stories of the Bible or its main characters before 650 BCE.

Today I am just happy , and I post this entry just for the pleasure of readying it over and over again .Happy because I am here, in these place(this world named Earth and Xiha world), because I have a family (even its far ,I know they are there , and I can  tolk whit them if needed