Lady Letitia Derby

- 1825

• Name	Letitia Derby
  Prefix	Lady
  Gender	Female
  Alias	Letitia Smith
  Death	1825  [1]
  Notes	She worked as a servant in a brothel in her early years and her foul mouth gave her some notoriety at the time and gave rise to the phrase "to swear like Lady Lade". She became the mistress of the dandy highwayman John Rann. After he was tried and hanged for his crimes, she became the mistress of the Duke of York and then moved on to his friend Sir John Lade. It was through Sir John that she became close to the profligate Prince of Wales (later George IV) who employed him as his racing manager. The Prince was so besotted with her that he commissioned her portrait from George Stubbs. [2, 3]
  Person ID	I1034	UK Thrale family
  Last Modified	9 Jul 2024

  
  

  Family	Baronet Sir John Lade,   b. 1 Aug 1759   d. Abt 1838 (Age 78 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1787
  Family ID	F291	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	13 Feb 2004

  
  

• Photos		Lady Letitia Derby by George Stubbs by George Stubbs. Oil on canvas. Royal Collection. 102.5 x 128.2 cm.
  		Lady Letitia Lade after Sir Joshua Reynolds

  
  

• Sources

  [S22] Web, http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp64309&rNo=0&role=sit (Reliability: 3). [S22] Web, http://www.ezilon.com/information/printer_5816.shtml. [S76] Bloom and Bloom, The Piozzi Letters. Volume 2, page 527, note 2.