Elizabeth Vassall

Elizabeth Vassall Fox, Baroness Holland (1771 – London, November 1845) was an English political hostess and the wife of Whig politician Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland. With her husband, and after his death, she hosted political and literary gatherings at their home, Holland House.

Biography

Elizabeth Vassall was born in 1771 in London, the only child and heiress of Richard Vassall, a planter in Jamaica, and Mary Clarke of New York. She was the granddaughter of Florentius Vassall, a wealthy planter and slave-owner, in Jamaica whose last will was dated 1777. She was also the first cousin of New York poet, scholar and real estate developer Clement Clarke Moore and second cousin of Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Aaron Burr.

First marriage Vassall married Sir Godfrey Webster, 4th Baronet in 1786. He was more than 20 years older than she was. Sir Godfrey Vassall Webster, 5th Baronet (6 October 1789 – 17 July 1836). A son (born and died 1790).

Second marriage In 1794, Webster met in Naples the Whig politician Henry Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, two years her junior, and they embarked on a love affair. married on 24 May 1830 Thomas Powys, 3rd Baron Lilford. The Hon. Georgiana Anne Fox (7 November 1809 – 31 October 1819). A daughter (born and died 24 June 1812).

Holland became known by her guests and contemporary observers for her domineering nature, in contrast to her husband. In his journals, Sydney Smith, a friend of both Lord and Lady Holland, called her a "formidable woman". Actress Fanny Kemble visited Holland House with her sister Adelaide Kemble and described what she called the "domineering rudeness" of Lady Holland. Lady Holland's rule extended not only to all of the guests at Holland House but to Lord Holland too. She dictated when he should go to bed, what he should wear, and would have servants take him away from the table in his wheelchair when he was in the middle of telling a story.

Both Lord and Lady Holland were great admirers of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1815, Holland commissioned a bronze bust of him from the sculptor Antonio Canova, which was placed in the garden at Holland House. After Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in 1815, Lady Holland sent him supplies of food and hundreds of books. Napoleon remembered Lady Holland in his will and following his death, in 1821, his companions General Henri Gratien Bertrand and the Marquis de Montholon arrived at Holland House, delivering a snuffbox. In November of that year, Holland moved to 9 Great Stanhope Street, a property she rented from Lord Palmerston.

Introduction of the dahlia Lady Holland became known for permanently introducing the dahlia to the United Kingdom. An unsuccessful attempt had been made in 1789 by the Marchioness of Bute who brought the plant from Spain but failed to propagate it. Whilst in Madrid in 1804, Lady Holland was given either dahlia seeds or roots by the botanist Antonio José Cavanilles. She sent them back to England, to Lord Holland's librarian Mr Buonaiuti at Holland House, who successfully raised the plants. In 1824, Lord Holland sent his wife a note containing the following verse:"The dahlia you brought to our isle Your praises for ever shall speak; Mid gardens as sweet as your smile, And in colour as bright as your cheek."