Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper

Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper (1787–1869), later Viscountess Palmerston, was a leading figure of the Almack's social set, sister to Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, wife to the 5th Earl Cowper, and subsequently wife to Lord Palmerston.

Emily was born in 1787 to Peniston Lamb and his wife Elizabeth (née Milbanke). Due to her mother's numerous love affairs, her true paternity was never verified, and has been described as being "shrouded in mystery". The Lamb family had been politically prominent since the mid-18th century, reaching their zenith of influence in Emily's generation. Her father was made Viscount Melbourne in 1781. Her eldest brother William Lamb twice held the premiership of England, while another brother, Frederick Lamb, was a noted diplomat, and a third, George Lamb, was a minor playwright and journalist of the era. The Lambs were closely linked with the Whig party, and were intimates of Queen Victoria. There was a lifelong bond between William and Emily, whom he fondly called "that little devil Emily"; by contrast she detested his wife, Lady Caroline Lamb (whom she called "the little beast").

At age eighteen, Emily married Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, a man nine years her senior. Lord Cowper had a reputation for dullness and slowness of speech which were in marked contrast to his wife's social gifts; a more favourable portrait was that he was a quiet, pleasant man who was far less stupid than he appeared to be, but preferred to avoid society and politics. Emily threw herself into the Regency social scene, becoming one of the leading ladies of the highly exclusive Almack's club. She was noted for kindness and generosity: she would do anything for a person she liked. She would even help people she disliked: although she detested her sister-in-law Caroline, when Caroline was barred from Almack's, a sign of the deepest social disgrace, Emily eventually managed to get the ban lifted. Like many of the society ladies of the age, she had love affairs, including one with the Corsican diplomat Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo, later Russian Ambassador to Great Britain.

...
Wikipedia