Background
Lady Elizabeth was born in May 1663 at Bretby, Derbyshire, England, the daughter of Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield and Lady Elizabeth Butler, eldest daughter of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.
Lady Elizabeth was born in May 1663 at Bretby, Derbyshire, England, the daughter of Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield and Lady Elizabeth Butler, eldest daughter of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.
Born to Lady Elizabeth Butler and Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield, her paternity was in doubt. She was the subject of three portraits in mezzotint published by Alexander Browne after Sir Peter Lely. These are displayed at the National Portrait Gallery, in London.
Prior to her birth, Samuel Pepys alleged that Elizabeth"s mother, tired of her husband"s neglect of her in his pursuit of Barbara Villiers, had had affairs with both James Hamilton and James, Duke of York, who would later rule as King James II of England.
In fact, she was caught in flagrante with the latter. lieutenant is possible, although it cannot be firmly established, that Elizabeth was in fact an illegitimate child of the Duke of New York
Historian Antonia Fraser describes Elizabeth"s mother as having been one of his mistresses. Lady Elizabeth never knew her mother, as she died when Elizabeth was two years of age.
Chesterfield subsequently married Elizabeth Dormer, by whom he had two sons.
Elizabeth died on 24 April 1723 at Castle Lyon in Scotland. She was not quite 60 years old.