Duke of Devonshire a separate title from that of Earl of Devon, which still belongs to the Courtenay family. The fifth Duke and Duchess of Devonshire are portrayed in the 2008 film "The Duchess" directed by Saul Dibb. The film is based on Amanda Foreman's biography of the scandalous 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (portrayed by Keira Knightley) and her relationship with the Duke (Ralph Fiennes) and his next wife, Lady Elizabeth Foster. Along with Jane Austen, the fifth Duke and his second wife appear, soon after Georgiana's death, in "Jane and the Stillroom Maid", a murder mystery by Stephanie
Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Elizabeth Christiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (13 May 1758 – 30 March 1824) was an English novelist and duchess. She is best known as Lady Elizabeth Foster, the close friend of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Elizabeth supplanted the Duchess, gaining the affections of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, and later marrying him. Known as Bess, she was born Elizabeth Christiana Hervey in a small house in Horringer, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk. Her father, Frederick Hervey, later became the fourth Earl of Bristol. In 1776, Elizabeth married Irishman John Thomas Foster (1747–1796). He was a