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
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire played a key role in formulating, with Thomas Beddoes, the idea of establishing the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol. Her interest arose in part as she was related through marriage to the pneumatic chemist Henry Cavendish. She took interest in scientific experiments and began a collection of crystals at Chatsworth, the main seat of the dukedom of Devonshire. As was common among the aristocracy of her time, the duchess routinely gambled for leisure and amusement. Her gaming spiraled into a ruinous addiction, however, made worse by her emotional instability. In the first years of her marriage, she accumulated debts that surpassed