b. 1797-04-21
d. 1869-09-11
Lady Palmerston was born Emily Lamb in England, 21 April 1787. She married Lord
Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau Cowper on 20 July 1805. In the years after the
birth of her first son, Lady Palmerston began to entertain a throng of admirers, suitors, and lovers.
She had so many male callers that the paternity of her next four children was highly
suspect.2
Lord Cowper died in 1837, allowing Lady Palmerston to marry her most consistent lover,
Lord Henry Palmerston, on 16 December 1839.
3
Lady Palmerston became
the première political hostess in London
by 1849, after having hosted hundreds of parties in the years prior to her marriage
to
Lord Palmerston.
4 Her parties were often used for political purposes;
Lord Palmerston's position was largely maintained by Lady Palmerston’s social aptitude.
5
Lady Palmerston continued to entertain political figures until her death on 11 September
1869. She was buried next to her husband in Westminster Abbey.6
- 1. Barker to Lytton, 3 November 1858, 11377, CO 60/2, p. 564.
- 2. K. D. Reynolds, Temple [née Lamb], Emily Mary [Amelia], Oxford University Press.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.