, (Lady Paget and later Duchess of Argyll), with her eldest son, Henry, by
John Hoppner, 1800 Paget was first married on 5 July 1795 in London to
Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers (16 December 1774 – 16 June 1835), daughter of
George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey and
Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey. They had eight children: Paget had in fact begun an affair with
Lady Charlotte Wellesley (1781–1853), the wife of
Henry Wellesley (brother of the
Duke of Wellington) and daughter of
Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan and Mary Churchill. In November 1808, Paget went to Spain to fight in the
Peninsular War, but on his return he and Lady Charlotte resumed their affair, and in March 1809 they scandalously eloped and began living together. On 28March 1809, Lady Charlotte's brother,
Henry Cadogan, challenged Paget to a
duel: "My Lord, I hereby request you to name a time and place where I may meet you, to obtain satisfaction for the injury done myself and my whole family by your conduct to my sister. I have to add that the time must be as early as possible, and the place not in the immediate neighbourhood of London, as it is by concealment alone that I am able to evade the Police." The contest took place on
Wimbledon Common on the morning of 30May with
Hussey Vivian as Lord Paget's second and Captain McKenzie as Cadogan's. Both men discharged their pistols, honour was satisfied and the parties left the field uninjured. Henry Wellesley had his marriage dissolved by a
private act of Parliament,
Wellesley's Divorce Act 1810 (
50 Geo. 3. c.
1 ), and sued Lord Paget for damages, being awarded £24,000 for
criminal conversion. The Pagets took advantage of Scots law to get an expedited divorce. Lord Paget stayed together at hotels in Edinburgh and Perthshire, where they were witnessed in bed together by chambermaids. However, if Lady Charlotte had been identified by name she would not have been able to marry Lord Paget under Scottish law, and she "positively refus'd letting Lord Paget domiciliate with any other woman", so the couple concealed her identity so the witnesses could attest they had no idea of the identity of the woman whom they saw with Lord Paget. It was said she "eat, drank, and slept in a black veil". – buried 13 May 1815), died in infancy •
Lord Alfred Paget (29 June 1816 – 24 August 1888); married Cecilia, second daughter and co-heiress of George Thomas Wyndham, of Cromer Hall, Norfolk in 1847. •
Lord George Paget (16 March 1818 – 30 June 1880); a
brigadier general of the
British Army. •
Lady Adelaide Paget (2 January 1820 – 21 August 1890); married
Frederick William Cadogan, a son of
George Cadogan, 3rd Earl Cadogan and his wife Honoria Louisa Blake. She was a train-bearer at
Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838. She wrote the first book of
patience games in the English language as well as other books and plays. • Lord Albert Augustus William Paget (27 December 1821 – buried April 1822 in
St James's Church, Piccadilly; reburied 23 June 1823 in
Lichfield Cathedral), died in infancy • Lord Albert Arthur Paget (24 May 1823 – buried 23 June 1823), buried in Lichfield Cathedral with elder brother Lord Albert • Lady Alice Paget (21 May 1825 – buried 10 June 1825) ==Namesakes==