Grace Dalrymple Elliott (–1823)

Grace Dalrymple Elliott was born in Edinburgh, a daughter of Hugh Dalrymple,, a barrister, and his wife Grissel Brown. Her parents separated around the time of her birth, and she spent her early life in the home of her grandparents. After her mother died, she was sent to a French convent school to be educated. On her return to Scotland at age 17, she made her debut in Edinburgh society and was acclaimed as a beauty. John Elliott (later Sir John), a prominent and wealthy physician 18 years her senior, quickly made her an offer of marriage, and they wed in 1771. In 1774, Grace fell in love with Arthur Annesley, an Irish peer, with whom she had an affair. Her husband divorced her and her social reputation was ruined. Grace became a professional courtesan supported by men such as the Earl of Cholmondeley, the Prince Regent (future King George IV), and Louis Philippe II, duc d'Orléans, later known as Philippe Égalité. By 1786, she was living permanently in Paris at the center of social life during her liaisons with the duke and others. During the French Revolution, she smuggled correspondence on behalf of the British government as well as messages between Paris and members of the exiled French court in Coblenz and Belgium. She also risked her life several times to assist and hide aristocrats pursued by the revolutionaries. In 1793, however, after the fall of her protector Philippe Égalité, she was arrested and imprisoned, narrowly averting death, until being released in October 1794. She returned to England in 1798 but her former patrons were not pleased to see her and she returned to France. Her memoir, During the Reign of Terror: Journal of my Life during the French Revolution, published posthumously, became one of the best-known English-language accounts of the Revolution.