Social Victorians/People/Leeds

Also Known As

• Family name: Osborne
• Duke of Leeds (peerage of England)
  • George Godolphin Osborne, 9th Duke (8 August 1872 – 23 December 1895)
  • George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke (23 December 1895 – 10 May 1927)
• Duchess of Leeds
  • Frances Georgiana Pitt-Rivers Osborne (8 August 1872 – 23 December 1895)
  • Katherine Frances Lambton Osborne (23 December 1895 – 10 May 1927? [died 6 December 1952])
• Dowager Duchess of Leeds
  • Frances Georgiana Pitt-Rivers Osborne (23 December 1895 – 26 October 1896)
• A number of related or subsidiary titles are associated with the Duke of Leeds:
  • Baron of Godolphin, the two titles being united beginning in 1859, when the 7th Duke died and the title passed to his cousin, the 2nd Baron Godolphin (both titles becoming extinct in 1964).

Timeline

1861 January 16, George Godolphin Osborne (later the 9th Duke) and Frances Georgiana Pitt-Rivers married.

1884 February 13, George Godolphin Osborne (later the 10th Duke) and Katherine Frances Lambton married.

1897 July 2, Friday, George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke and Katherine Osborne, Duchess of Leeds attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House. (Katherine, Duchess of Leeds is #35 in the list of people who attended; George Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds is #455.)

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds and Katherine Osborne, Duchess of Leeds attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball.

Katherine, Duchess of Leeds as Lalla Rookh. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Katherine, Duchess of Leeds

Katherine, Duchess of Leeds sat at Table 9 in the first supper seating. Henry Van der Weyde's portrait (right) of "Katherine Frances (née Lambton), Duchess of Leeds as Lalla Rookh" in costume is photogravure #94 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "The Duchess of Leeds as Lalla Rookh," with a Long S in Duchess.

Newspaper Descriptions of Her Costume

She was dressed as the fictional Persian character Lalla Rookh:

• "Among the most beautiful of the fancy dresses was the Lalla Rookh costume worn by the Duchess of Leeds. The transparent gold and green gauze of which it was composed was embroidered with brightly-tinted flowers, and a sash of jewel-sewn turquoise velvet added a lustrous Oriental touch to the whole. Long, hanging sleeves of the green gauze were embroidered with flowers, leaving the white arms free. The train was gold-and-green tiems [?] elaborately embroidered with turquoise, emerald and ruby jewelling, and clinging in to the waist at the back. The trousers were pink muslin over pink surah, and the tunic was in the embroidered gauze over paler green silk. The gold head-dress rose high above the brows, and a thin muslin veil crossed the face leaving only the eyes free."
• "An Oriental. In green and gold thread gauze, the tunic embroidered in silk and sequins, turquoise velvet sash encrusted with jewels and fringed with turquoises; long train of gauze, elaborately embroidered all round the hem; pantaloons of pink silk, veiled with old, embroidered white gauze, and a gold head-dress; her face was veiled and draped only to show the eyes."
• "The Duchess of Leeds, as an Oriental, had a robe of green and gold thread gauze, the tunic embroidered in silk and sequins, turquoise velvet sash, encrusted with jewels and fringed with turquoises, long train of gauze, elaborately embroidered all round the hem, pantaloons of pink silk veiled with old embroidered white gauze, and a gold headdress. Her face was veiled, and draped only to show the eyes."
• "The Duchess of Leeds looked charming as Lalla Rookh, in a tunic of green gauze over Turkish trousers of pink satin veiled with embroidered lisse, a gold gauze over-dress, and a sash of turquoise blue velvet stiff with jewelled embroidery."
• "The Duchess of Leeds as 'Lalla Rookh,' was gorgeously attired in green and tinsel gauze, the tunic being covered with Turkish embroidery and with heavy gold fringe. The trousers were of pink silk under gold embroidered muslin, and the yashmak was of pink chiffon, worked over in gold."
• "The Duchess of Leeds, as Lalla Rookh, was poetically beautiful. Her attire consisted of pink silk Oriental trousers, veiled in white embroidered lisse, a tunic of pale green and gold-striped gauze, embroidered all over in a design of red, mauve, blue, yellow, and green, each colour sparkling with sequins of its own rich hue."
• "The Duchess of Leeds wore a lovely dress as Lalla Rookh. Tommy Moore would have beheld his ideal realised. But where was Feramorz?"
• "(Lalla Rookh), trousers of pink satin, and tunic of green gauze embroidered in gold and jewels, and edged with gold fringe."
• This description accompanies a flattering line drawing of the Duchess of Leeds in costume (Numeral 10 below the drawing, bottom left, seated, facing her left, veiled with emphasized headdress, waist not tight or emphasized, apparently signed by “Rook”): “Made by Mrs Mason, 4, New Burlington Street, W. … No. 10. DUCHESS OF LEEDS, Lalla Rookh of Tom Moore. — Gold Turkish helmet on head; soft muslin dress, embroidered with precious stones in all colours; green and gold coat with rich embroidered border; turquoise blue sash, incrusted with real turquoises; rose coloured veil."

On 12 June 1897, the Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald, citing the Daily Mail, says that "Mr. Caryl Craven, who is so clever in such matters, is helping the Duchess of Leeds with her dress."

Lalla Rookh

Irish poet Thomas Moore published his book-length Lalla Rookh in 1817, a narrative poem with four stories. Adaptations of Moore's enormously popular poem were made throughout the century, at least 5 operas and one cantata as late as 1892. It is also the source of the name of a number of ships in the 19th century.

Alfred Woolmer's painting Lalla Rookh (1861): "depicts Hinda, daughter of the Emir of Arabia, in a tower overlooking the Persian Gulf, based on the story called 'The Fire-Worshippers' in the poem. The painting is now housed in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery," gifted in 1943 by Mrs Elizabeth Hassell. This painting is reproduced at ArtUK: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/lalla-rookh-80915#.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Family

• George Godolphin Osborne, 9th Duke of Leeds (11 August 1828 – 23 December 1895)
• Frances Georgiana Pitt-Rivers Osborne (26 December 1836 – 26 October 1896)

1. George Frederick Osborne, Earl of Danby (4 November 1861 – 6 November 1861)
2. George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds (18 September 1862 – 10 May 1927)
3. Lord Francis Granville Godolphin Osborne (11 March 1864 – 17 October 1924)
4. Albert Edward Godolphin Osborne (10 April 1866 – 30 June 1914)
5. Harriet Castalia Godolphin Osborne (28 July 1867 – 16 June 1922)
6. Alice Susan Godolphin Osborne (17 May 1869 – 16 March 1951)
7. Ada Charlotte Godolphin Osborne (30 May 1870 – 9 April 1944)
8. Alexandra Louisa Godolphin Osborne (20 February 1872 – 19 January 1938)
9. Constance Blanche Godolphin Osborne (8 June 1875 – 18 July 1939)

• George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds (18 September 1862 – 10 May 1927)
• Katherine Frances Lambton Osborne (5 September 1862 – 6 December 1952)

1. Gwendolen Fanny Godolphin Osborne (2 March 1885 – 25 February 1933)
2. Olga Katherine Godolphin Osborne (3 October 1886 – 9 August 1929)
3. Dorothy Beatrix Godolphin Osborne (3 December 1888 – 18 June 1946)
4. Moira Godolphin Osborne (20 May 1892 – 20 May 1976)
5. John Francis Godophin Osborne, 11th Duke of Leeds (12 March 1901 – 26 July 1963)