Bess of Hardwick

Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury (July 271527–February 13,1608 [cite web |url=http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/bess-of-hardwick.htm |title=Elizabethan-Era.org.uk] ), known as Bess of Hardwick, was the third surviving daughter of John Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. She was married four times, firstly to Richard Barlow, who died in his teens; secondly to the courtier Sir William Cavendish; thirdly to Sir William St Loe; and to lastly to the George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, sometime keeper to the captive Mary, Queen of Scots. An accomplished needlewoman, Bess hosted Mary at Chatsworth House for extended periods in 1569, 1570, and 1571, during which time they worked together on the Oxburgh Hangings.Digby, "Elizabethan Embroidery", p. 58-63] In 1601, Bess ordered an inventory of the household furnishings including textiles at her three properties at Chatsworth and Hardwick, which survives, and in her will she bequeathed these items to her heirs to be preserved in perpetuity. The 400-year-old collection, now known as the Hardwick Hall textiles, is the largest collection of tapestry, embroidery, canvaswork, and other textiles to have been preserved by a single private family. [Levey, "Of Houshold Stuff", p.10-11; Levey, "An Elizabethan Inheritance", p. 20-39 "passim"]

First marriage

Born Elizabeth Hardwick, at the age of twelve she was sent to live in the London household of Lady Zouche at Codnor Castle, where she contracted the first of four marriages, to 14-year-old Robert Barlow, heir to a neighbouring estate, and became Elizabeth Barlow. However, they were too young, and he too sick, to consummate their marriage before he died. As Robert's widow she was entitled to one-third of the revenues of the Barlow estate.

Second marriage

She remained single until August 20, 1547, when she married the twice-widowed Sir William Cavendish, Treasurer of the King's Chamber, who had two daughters and was more than twice her age, and became Lady Cavendish. Probably acting on her advice, Sir William sold his lands in the south of England and purchased the Chatsworth estates in Derbyshire. was godmother to their third son, Charles. Sir William Cavendish died on October 25, 1557, leaving Bess widowed for a second time.

Third marriage

In 1559, Bess married her third husband, Sir William St Loe (St Lowe, Saintlowe, or Sentloe), Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth I, Chief Butler of England, and owner of large West Country estates at Tormarton in Gloucestershire and Chew Magna in Somerset, whose principal residence was at Sutton Court in Stowey, and became Lady St Loe. When Sir William died without male issue in 1564/5, in suspicious circumstances (probably poisoned by his younger brother)Fact|date=April 2008, he left everything to Bess, to the detriment of his daughters and brother. In addition to her own six children, Bess was now responsible for the two daughters of Sir William Cavendish from his first marriage, but Sir William St Loe's two daughters were adults and already well provided for.

Sir William St Loe's death left Bess one of the most eligible women in England. Not only was she a Lady of the Bedchamber with daily access and the favour of the Queen, but her income was calculated to amount to £60,000, which had the buying power of millions today. In her late 30s, she still retained her looks and good health, and a number of important men began courting her.

Fourth marriage

With the approval of Queen Elizabeth, who was not by habit a matchmaker, Bess was married in 1568 for the fourth time to the George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, one of the premier aristocrats of the realm, with seven children from his first marriage, and became Countess of Shrewsbury; two of his children married two of hers in a double ceremony in February 1568. Bess's daughter Mary Cavendish (aged 12) married Shrewsbury's eldest son Gilbert (aged 16), and Bess's son, Henry Cavendish (aged 18), married Shrewsbury's daughter Lady Grace Talbot (aged 8).

The Stuart connection

In 1574 Bess took advantage of a visit of the Countess of Lennox to marry her daughter Elizabeth to Charles Stuart, the younger son of the Lennoxes and brother of Henry, Lord Darnley, the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. The marriage ceremony took place without the knowledge of Shrewsbury, who — though he was well aware of the suggested match some time prior to this event — declined to accept any responsibility. As the Lennox family had a claim to the throne, the marriage was considered potentially treasonable as no royal assent had been obtained. The Countess of Lennox, mother of the bridegroom, went to the Tower for several months, and Bess was ordered to London to face an official inquiry, but she ignored the summons, and remained in Sheffield until the row died down. The child of the marriage was Arbella Stuart, who had a claim to the thrones of Scotland and England.For many years (1569–1584), the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury acted as 'guardians' to Mary, Queen of Scots, when the Queen was imprisoned on one or another of their estates, but it was not until Mary was removed to another jailer, Sir Amias Paulet, that she got into the trouble that cost her life. Around the same time Mary was removed from his custody, Shrewsbury and Bess separated for good — they had been apart off-and-on since about 1580, and even Queen Elizabeth had tried to get them to reconcile. Mary seems to have aggravated, if not created, their problems by playing them off against each other. The Countess believed he had been in a relationship with Mary, a charge which has never been proved or disproved, but seems unlikely given Shrewsbury's disposition and increasingly poor health. On his death in 1590, Bess became Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury.

A BBC documentary [cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/bbb-hardwick.shtml |title=BBC Documentary Site] claimed that Bess very much desired Arbella to become Queen, but it is fact that Bess was forced by order of the Queen to keep the girl away from Court and closely supervised in rural Derbyshire. Arbella blamed her grandmother for this, and the two fell out irrevocably when Arbella attempted to run away and marry a man who also had claim to the throne. Bess cut Arbella from her will and begged the Queen to take her granddaughter off her hands. Arbella's royal claim was never recognised but Bess eventually ended up with a descendant on the throne: Queen Elizabeth II.

Buildings

Bess became famous for her building projects, especially two of them: Chatsworth, now the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire (whose family name is still "Cavendish," because they are descended from her children from her second marriage), and Hardwick Hall, of which it has been said for more than 400 years now: "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall," because of the number and size of its windows. She was interred in a vault in Derby Cathedral, where there is a memorial to her. All three sites are popular with visitors, as is Old Hardwick Hall, Bess' birthplace.

Notes

Bibliography

*cite book
last = Digby
first = George Wingfield
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Elizabethan Embroidery
year = 1964
publisher = Thomas Yoseloff
location = New York
id =

*cite book
last = Durant
first = David N.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Bess of Hardwick: Portrait of an Elizabethan Dynast
year = 1977
publisher = Weidenfeld and Nicolson
location = London
id = ISBN 0-297-77305-4
*cite book
last = Durant
first = David N.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Bess of Hardwick: Portrait of an Elizabethan Dynast
edition = American Edition
year = 1977
publisher = Atheneum
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-689-10835-4
*cite book
last = Eisenberg
first = Elizabeth
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = This Costly Countess: Bess of Hardwick
year = 1985
publisher = Hall
location = Derby
id = ISBN 0-946404-95-X
*cite book
last = Hubbard
first = Kate
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Material Girl: Bess of Hardwick: 1527-1608
year = 2001
publisher = Short Books
location = London
id = ISBN 0-571-20800-2
*cite book
last = Kettle
first = Pamela
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Oldcotes: The Last Mansion Built by Bess of Hardwick
year = 2000
publisher = Merton Priory Press
location = Cardiff
id = ISBN 1-898937-39-7
*cite book
last = Levey
first = Santina
authorlink =
coauthors = Peter Thornton
title = Of Houshold Stuff: The 1601 Inventory of Bess of Hardwick
year = 2001
publisher = National Trust
location = London
id = ISBN 0-7078-0329-2
*cite book
last = Levey
first = Santina
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = An Elizabethan Inheritance: The Hardwick Hall Textiles
year = 1998
publisher = National Trust
location = London
id = ISBN 1-905400-21-7
*cite book
last = Lovell
first = Mary S.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth: 1527-1608
year = 2006
publisher = Norton
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-393-06221-X; ISBN-13 978-0316724821
*cite book
last = Lovell
first = Mary S.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth: 1527-1608
edition = British Edition
year = 2005
publisher = Little-Brown
location = London
id = ISBN 0-316-72482-3
*cite book
last = Pearson
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Serpent and the Stag
year = 1984
publisher = Holt, Rinehart, & Winston
location = New York
id = ISBN-13: 978-0030554315
*cite book
last = Plowden
first = Alison
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Mistress of Hardwick
year = 1972
publisher = BBC
location = London
id = ISBN 0-563-10664-6
*cite book
last = Westcott
first = Jan
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Tower and the Dream
year = 1974
publisher = Putnam
location = New York.
id = ISBN 0-399-11128-X [Biographical fiction]
*cite book
last = Williams
first = Ethel
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Bess of Hardwick
year = 1977
publisher = Chivers
location = Bath
id = ISBN 0-85997-238-0

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8278 Find-A-Grave profile for Bess of Hardwick]
* [http://www.oldroads.org/Room%20of%20One%27s%20Own/bess.htm The Women Writers Archive entry on Bess of Hardwick]