Rachel Russell was born in 1674, the second daughter of William, Lord Russell (1639-83) and Lady Rachel Wriothesley (c.1636-1723). Her father was part of the ‘Country Party’, a forerunner to the Whigs, who were hostile to the future James II.
During the late 1670s, he was in communication with William of Orange, though his execution as part of the Rye House Plot in July 1683 meant he did not live to see the Glorious Revolution.
The 6th Duke later wrote of her: “This lady brought the quality of silence into the family - whether it was natural to her, or assumed from having lived in troublous (sic) time, I know not, but silent she was, and obtained great credit from being so.”
Rachel married William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire(1673-1729) in 1688, five years after her father’s execution; it is likely the marriage was arranged by her mother. It is probably no coincidence that the Devonshires were equally sympathetic to William of Orange, the 1st Duke playing a crucial role in the Glorious Revolution.
William and Rachel had ten children together: Mary, William (3rd Duke), Rachel, Elizabeth, James, Charles, Anne, Katherine, John, and Diana
Rachel was immortalised by the artist Michael Dahl as one of the Petworth Beauties; this series of eight female portraits were commissioned by her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Percy, Duchess of Somerset (1667-1722), for Petworth House, and were designed as a representation of Elizabeth’s personal court, in imitation of the Beauties at both Windsor and Hampton Court.
In 1702, Rachel was made Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Anne, a position she occupied until Anne’s death in 1714.
