Bess of Hardwick is one of the best known Elizabethans. Bess was heartbroken, and begged Elizabeth to either allow Arbella to come to court, or let her live elsewhere, but the requests were refused. Bess was now a Countess, and one of the highest ranking women in England. Bess of Hardwick was one of the most influential English women. She was about sixty-three, but still full of the energy of a much younger woman. Sources: Part of the marriage agreement was for Bess’ oldest son, Henry Cavendish, to marry Shrewsbury’s daughter, Grace Talbot, and for her daughter, Mary Cavendish, to marry Gilbert Talbot, Shrewsbury’s second son. Bess became attached to the Dorsets, and they to her. Bess, not more than sixteen, showed the steely determination to have what was rightfully hers and instigated a court case. Married to Robert Barley (or Barlow), Sir William Cavendish, Sir William St. Loe, and George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Hardwick’s history is closely associated with the lady who built it, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, known to many simply as ‘Bess of Hardwick’. Bess was born into a family of respectable but impoverished Derbyshire landowners. Elizabeth, or ‘Bess’ of Hardwick was the daughter of a Derbyshire gentleman. http://www.maryqueenofscots.net/people/bess-hardwick-countess-shrewsbury/ Bess was made a Lady of the Private Chamber to Elizabeth I as a wedding present. There is no information on how the couple came to marry – tradition has it she nursed him through an illness and they fell in love, but the eminent suitability of the match suggests that, if it were not actually arranged by the families, it was certainly one they deemed suitable. Bess had to marry again to take care of the debts from Sir William Cavendish so in 1559, she married Sir William St. Loe and became Lady St. Loe. As the 1590s progressed, Bess’ granddaughter, Lady Arbella, became a problem. This might have worked had Robert lived, but he died before reaching his majority. Some then state that Bess was sent to the Tower for not immediately informing the Queen. She would stay in there custody for over 15 years. He and Bess married in 1559. Her husband was respected and trusted by the queen, but was not one of the men she liked to keep at her side. He died in early 1558 before the matter could be resolved, and Bess was left with six young children, two step-daughters and a huge debt to the Crown. It was at Bradgate Park where Bess met her second husband Sir William Cavendish, who was twice the age of Bess. There are also rumors this is where she met her first husband Robert Barley (or Barlow); they married in 1543 but Robert died a year later in December 1544. This time, there was a plan for the new building, produced by Robert Smythson, known as the first English architect; the building utilised new ideas on symmetry, in complete contrast to the adjacent old hall and the sheer quantity of glass is daring and has given rise to a local saying ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’. They owned land in and around Hardwick and a modest manor house on the site of Hardwick Old Hall. It cannot be later than 1527 because of the date of her f Born on the site of Hardwick Old Hall Bess rose to a position of great power within Elizabethan society. Bess became the second wealthiest woman in England after Elizabeth I with the possession of the St. Loe inheritance. She completed the rebuilding of Chatsworth and remodelled Hardwick Old Hall, before beginning a whole new house at Hardwick, and continued to manage her estates with tireless enthusiasm, reviewing all her accounts to the penny. By careful arrangement, Bess had retained all of the Cavendish lands for her lifetime, rather than them immediately devolving to her son – Shrewsbury now had access to them all for Bess’ lifetime. Her suitor was none other than the recently widowed George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Carry on browsing if you're happy with this, or find out how to manage cookies. Arbella felt like a prisoner and attempted to escape, aided by her uncle, Henry Cavendish. Born into reduced circumstances, she was married at 15 and widowed at 16. Bess did not remarry until 1568 to her last husband George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and she became Countess of Shrewsbury. Bess had 3 sisters: Ruth Ann Roray and 2 other siblings . John Hardwick died at the age of 40 and Bess’s mother remarried. http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/bess-of-hardwick/. Like many others, Cavendish had used this to good effect to amass the beginnings of a significant estate. After her husband’s death in 1590, Bess became the Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury. For the next few years Bess started to construct a new house around her old family home, the building we now know as Hardwick Old Hall. Her descendants are still Dukes of Devonshire, Dukes of Norfolk and Earls of Lincoln. Sansom, Guest Post: Women and the Birth of Magna Carta By Sharon Bennett Connolly. Well educated and attractive, she had been taken to court a couple of times, but Elizabeth had no taste for a young, pretty, potential heir to the throne hanging about her court and Arbella was left in Derbyshire. We do not know if they in fact lived together because they were so young. This not go well for Mary as she was imprisoned in May 18, 1568 at Carlisle Castle. Bess of Hardwick was born around 1527 to John Hardwick of Derbyshire and his wife Elizabeth Leeke. Whilst in  their service, Bess married one of the Dorsets’ court connections, Sir William Cavendish. Bess of Hardwick was born around 1527 to John Hardwick of Derbyshire and his wife Elizabeth Leeke. In 1608, in her mid-80s Bess died at Hardwick and was buried in a tomb in Derby Cathedral. Born on the site of Hardwick Old Hall Bess rose to a position of great power within Elizabethan society. Like many people whose childhood had been financially insecure, Bess worked all her life to build a solid base of wealth. ( Log Out /  Although only around 31 at the time of her third marriage, Bess did not have any more children, so, having passed the most dangerous time of a woman’s life, Bess could look forward to a long life, with St Loe, in favour at court, and with plenty of money. Edward St Loe may even have gone so far as to attempt to poison Bess, when William made her heir to all his unentailed lands. But then Elizabeth decided that Shrewsbury was the right man to guard Mary, Queen of Scots, who had escaped to England after being dethroned. ( Log Out /  Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. He became sick with stress, he began to believe that Bess was undermining him with his sons, and that she was attempting to defraud him of property. Other biographers do not believe that Bess was involved at all, and that the Mistress St Loe sent to the Tower was a cousin of Sir William, implicated in the attempt by Edward St Loe to poison Bess. Many biographers believe she confided in her old friend, Bess, who refused to have anything to do with the matter. During this period - the reign of Edward VI - they moved in the Protestant circles that surrounded the Dorsets – or Suffolks as they became when the Marquis of Dorset was created Duke of Suffolk in 1552. The other benefit of Bess’ position in favour at court was the forgiveness of the debt hanging over her after Cavendish’s death. Shortly after, she married for a third time. Bess was entitled to dower of one-third of the estate from the guardian of the next heir, Robert’s brother, but it was initially refused. When Bess was in her early teens, she probably joined the household of Anne, Lady Zouche, at Codno… From a practical perspective, it was a good match – the Shrewsbury estates were centred on Staffordshire and Yorkshire, and married up well with Bess’ Derbyshire holdings. Morris, author of Fortune’s Hand, a new novel about Walter Raleigh, Book Review: “Wolf Hall Companion” by Lauren Mackay, Book Series Review: The Matthew Shardlake Series by C.J. The family was not well off, although it had well-connected relatives, and when Bess’ father died, his widow and children were left, if not in real poverty, certainly in difficult circumstances. She was born into a gentleman’s family, but her father died young and her mother remarried. Find out what Dr Emma Turnbull from the University of Oxford discovered when she delved deeper into Bess's character. Bess left home at the age of 12 to serve at nearby Codnor Castle, and by the age of 15 she had married Robert Barlow, heir to a neighbouring gentry family. Rebel Scottish lords rose up against Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned her, and forced her to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old infant son, James. Much of the land had been purchased from the Leche family, on the death of Bess’ brother-in-law, Francis Leche. Bess of Hardwick was one of the most remarkable women of the Tudor era. From circa 27 August 1559, her married name became St. Loe.5 Her married name became Talbot. In 1574, Bess offended the Queen deeply. Her husband was Robert Barlow or Barley, from another Derbyshire family, and distantly related to Bess. Nevertheless, they avoided the court, spending much of their time in Derbyshire. All seemed set fair. They lived separately, with Bess spending most of her time either at Chatsworth, or at Hardwick Hall, which she had bought after her brother James died a bankrupt. Her life was monument to what a clever, ambitious, and charming woman could achieve in the Tudor era. Cavendish had been a protégé of Thomas Cromwell and had a position in the Court of Augmentations. Secure at Chatsworth and very wealthy Bess married for a final time, this time to George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1567, a statesman high in royal favour and Bess became a Countess. It has been suggested that one reason for disposing of Northaw was the fear that King Edward would die without a child of his own, and that once his sister, the Catholic Lady Mary, became queen, there might be a move to restore the monastic estates. Bess’ third husband, Sir William St Loe, was highly favoured by Elizabeth and was soon named as Captain of the Guard.

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