Lily Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough

Lily, Lady William Beresford, formerly Lily Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (née Price, June 10, 1854 – January 11, 1909) was an American heiress and socialite during the Gilded Age.

Early life Lilian Warren Price was born on June 10, 1854, in Troy, New York. Her father was Commodore Cicero Price (1805–1888), an officer in the United States Navy who served in the American Civil War and was Commander of the East India Squadron, and her mother, Elizabeth Homer Paine (1828–1910). She attended Emma Willard School in Troy, New York.

Marriages

Her first marriage was to Louis Carré Hamersley, a millionaire heir to a real estate fortune in New York City, who died in 1883 and was buried in the Trinity Church Cemetery. As stipulated in his will, the bulk of his estate went to the first male child of his cousin, J. Hooker Hamersley, whose estate in turn went to his son, Louis Gordon Hamersley.

Third marriage

Her third husband was Lord William de la Poer Beresford (1847–1900), son of John Beresford, 4th Marquess of Waterford (1814-1866) and Christiana Leslie. She died on January 11, 1909, in Dorking, Surrey, England. She was buried in Beresford Family Crypt at Clonagam Churchyard in Portlaw (Ireland).