Born in 1654 to the 2nd Duke and Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Elizabeth Cavendish was the eldest of six kids. Granddaughter to each Civil Battle normal William Cavendish and distinguished MP William Pierrepont, Elizabeth, or ‘little Betty’, grew up in a privileged world, born to one of the influential and rich households of the time. Throughout her lifetime she was made a duchess twice over, performed hostess to monarchy, and amassed a fantastic fortune in each wealth and property. But by the top of her life she had been declared a lunatic beneath regulation, identified to her contemporaries and historians alike as ‘the mad duchess’.
