Lavinia Jannetta Horton Ryves (née Serres; 16 March 1797 – 7 December 1871), was a British woman claiming to be a member of the British royal family, calling herself "Princess Lavinia of Cumberland". Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, Lavinia was the daughter of Olivia Serres and John Thomas Serres. Olivia Serres gained notoriety by claiming to be the daughter of Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, a younger brother of King

George III of the United Kingdom George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great ...

. In 1822 Lavinia married Anthony Ryves, a portrait painter. They were divorced in 1841. In 1844 "Princess Lavinia" tried to take

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...

to court for having "overlooked", as George III's executor, a bequest of £15,000 to Olivia. In 1850 Lavinia published a pamphlet requesting financial aid from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. In 1866, aged sixty-nine, Princess Lavinia asked the

Court of Probate In the history of the courts of England and Wales, the Court of Probate was created by the Court of Probate Act 1857, which transferred the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts in testamentary matters to the new court so created. The Jud ...

to declare her the legitimate granddaughter of the Duke of Cumberland and award her the £15,000 bequest "left" by George III. In the process of the 1866 trial, Lavinia produced several remarkable documents attesting to her claims, and a handwriting expert testified to the authenticity of George III's and James Wilmot's signatures. Testimony was introduced that in fact the Duke of Kent had supported Olivia financially, and had spoken of Olivia as "my cousin Serres", apparently believing her story. The trial was most considered remarkable, perhaps, for the claims made by Dr. Walter Smith, Lavinia's barrister, that George III had been privately married to a Quaker, Hannah Lightfoot, and that in consequence thereof, neither George IV nor Queen Victoria had any right to the throne. Lavinia's case, however, quickly ran into difficulties: in some of the submitted documents, George III had "signed" his name as "George Guelph"; in others, William Pitt and Lord Brook had "signed" as earls before they had in fact become earls. The court found that Lavinia was the legitimate daughter of John and Olivia Serres and was not the granddaughter of the Duke of Cumberland. The court did not prosecute Lavinia for forgery: Lavinia maintained she believed in good faith that the documents left her by Olivia were genuine. It is thought that the documents were in fact forged at the behest of Olivia, rather than Lavinia, perhaps by William FitzClarence, Olivia's boyfriend, who had calligraphic talents. Lavinia continued to write pamphlets in support of her claims, and her case was reheard by the House of Lords. She died with her claims unrecognized.

References

*''The Great Pretenders: The True Stories behind Famous Historical Mysteries'', Jan Bondeson, W.W. Norton & Co, New York, 2004. . *The name of her pamphlet was "An Appeal for Royalty A Letter to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria from Lavinia Princess of Cumberland and Duchess of Lancaster" published by W. Freeman, London 1858 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryves, Lavinia 1797 births 1871 deaths Impostor pretenders People from Liverpool