- Brilliana Harley
Brilliana, Lady Harley was born in 1598 at Brill, Leiden, in the Netherlands while her father Sir Sir Edward Conway (later Viscount Conway) was Governor there.
Marriage
She married (as his third wife), Sir
Robert Harley (1579-1656) in 1623, and he served as her father's aide in theParliament of England , while her father was Secretary of State of England.Letters
Some 375 of her letters to her husband and her son Edward Harley survive and show her to be an educated literary woman, at home in several languages. She was able to keep her husband informed of local political affairs when he was absent from home, attending Parliament or for other reasons, and organised the collection on information locally for the Parliamentary Committee on Scandalous Ministers. She was deeply religious, and her letters frequently repeat religious sentiments and encourage her family in their chosen Puritan practices. The letters also contain passages relating to personal details of their family life.
English Civil War
During the
English Civil War , in the absence of her husband and sons, she defended her home,Brampton Bryan Castle during a seven week siege by Royalist troops until the troops withdrew because they were needed atGloucester . She then compelled her tenants to level the Royalist siege earthworks. She also dispatched 40 troops to raid a local Royalist camp at Knighton.Death
She died of pneumonia on
29 October 1643 . This was a result of the hardships endured during the siege [http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/castles/castlesdata_az/brampton%20bryan.htm] .Links
The HSL-SHL online journal [http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/hsl_shl/index.html] provides a detailed bibliography of all works pertaining to Brilliana, Lady Harley [http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/hsl_shl/brilliana_harley.htm]
BBC Radio 4 UK Broadcast about her on 20th August 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/forbiddenfamilies/pip/37zn7/
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
