Bess of Hardwick


Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made marriages, she rose to the highest levels of English nobility and became enormously wealthy. Bess was reportedly a shrewd businesswoman, increasing her assets with business interests including mines and glass-making workshops.
She was married four times. Her first husband was Robert Barley, who died aged about 14 or 15 on 24 December 1544. Her second husband was the courtier Sir William Cavendish. Her third husband was Sir William St Loe. Her last husband was George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, sometime keeper to the captive Mary, Queen of Scots. An accomplished needlewoman, Bess joined her husband's captive charge at Chatsworth House for extended periods in 1569, 1570, and 1571, during which time they worked together on the Oxburgh Hangings.
In 1601, Bess ordered an inventory of the household furnishings, including textiles, at her three properties at Chatsworth, Hardwick, and Chelsea, which survives. 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. Bess is also well known for her building projects, the most famous of which are Chatsworth, now the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire, and Hardwick Hall.

Origins

Elizabeth Hardwick was the daughter of John Hardwick of Derbyshire by his wife Elizabeth Leeke, daughter of Thomas Leeke and Margaret Fox. Her exact birthdate is unknown, occurring in the period 1521 to 1527; that said, according to her witness statement under oath at a court hearing in October 1546, in which she gives her age at the time of her first marriage in May 1543 as being "of tender years", i.e. less than 16, would indicate 1527. It cannot be later than 1527 because of the date of her father's death, given in his Inquisition Post Mortem.
The Hardwicks had arrived in Derbyshire from Sussex by the mid-thirteenth century, and farmed land granted by Robert Savage, lord of the manor of Stainsby, on the north-east border of Derbyshire, looking over Nottinghamshire. By the mid-fifteenth century the family had risen to "gentleman-yeoman" stock, with an estate of a few hundred acres located mainly in the parish of Ault Hucknall in the manor of Stainsby. The Hardwick coat of arms of Hardwick was probably granted c. 1450 to William Hardwick. The blazon is: Argent, a saltier engrailed azure on a chief of the second three cinquefoils of the first. When giving evidence of his right to arms in 1569, Bess's only brother, James Hardwick, provided the heralds with a pedigree of his family which began with this William, who died.
James was the last surviving legitimate male member of the Hardwick family. The Hardwicks were members of the minor gentry of Scarsdale; no male member of the Hardwick family rose above the status of esquire or held any important local or county offices. Bess was born into this relatively minor gentry family. Her fourth marriage to the earl of Shrewsbury in 1567 elevated her to the rank of "countess", and following the earl's death in November 1590, Bess became one of the richest women in the kingdom. She set about building her greatest monument, Hardwick New Hall, which was completed in 1599.

Early life

John Hardwick died aged about 40 leaving a widow, son, and four daughters. His widow Elizabeth Leeke then married Ralph, the second son of the neighbouring Leche family of Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, by whom she would leave an additional three co-heiresses.
Little is known of Bess's early life. She appears to have been espoused to her first husband during the 1530s, and probably married for the first time in 1543. Despite the story being often repeated, there is no contemporary evidence whatsoever to support Dugdale's later claims that she became familiar with city life and the Tudor Court after being sent to live, aged twelve, in the London household of Anne Gainsford, Lady Zouche of Codnor Castle in Derbyshire, where she was supposedly influenced by Lady Zouche. Despite a lack of evidence, it is possible – but no more than that – that at some point, perhaps after the death of her first husband, she entered the service of the Zouches at Codnor Castle in Derbyshire.
A close family associate was a man named Henry Marmion whose family held land close to Codnor, and may have commended Bess to the Zouches who, along with the Vernons, were the only major Derbyshire family likely to have taken in such children. However, Anne Gainsford was in service in the households of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, and despite marrying Sir George Zouche in 1533, spent much of her time at court until after 1536, when she and Sir George made Codnor Castle their main residence. Not surprisingly, this period coincides with the time that Dugdale claimed Bess was in service to Anne Gainsford in London and at Codnor. However, there is no evidence to support the story, and Dugdale would have known much more about the early life of Lady Zouche than was known of Bess's origins. Again, according to Dugdale, from Codnor Bess entered the service of the Greys at Bradgate in Leicestershire, where she met and married her second husband, Sir William Cavendish. She certainly married Sir William at Bradgate, but that in itself does not prove that Bess was in service at Bradgate. It remains possible that she met Sir William elsewhere, possibly at Codnor. More likely, she was recommended to the Greys by Henry Grey's sister, Margaret, Lady Willoughby. Henry Marmion was one the Willoughby's most trusted upper servants, he was also one of the two men appointed in Bess's father's will and guardians of his children..

Bess's four marriages

First marriage

In 1543, Bess married 13-year-old Robert Barley, heir to a neighbouring estate. The exact date of her marriage to Robert is unknown. It is thought that the marriage took place late May 1543, shortly before the death of Robert's father on 28 May. There is no evidence that they lived together as husband and wife. Robert died in December 1544. There was no issue from the marriage, which had been arranged locally, probably initially to protect the Barley patrimony and to mitigate the impact of wardship on the Barley estate should Robert succeed his father as an underage heir. The traditional story that Robert and Bess met in London while in the service of a "Lady Zouche" is based on oral history, which can only be dated to the late seventeenth century. The marital claims to Robert's estate were disputed, and following his death Bess was refused dower by Peter Freschevile. A court battle ensued, which resulted in Bess being awarded her claim on the Barley estate and compensation, albeit several years after Robert's death.

Second marriage

On 20 August 1547, Bess married the twice-widowed Sir William Cavendish, Treasurer of the King's Chamber, and became Lady Cavendish. The wedding took place at two o'clock in the morning, at the home of the Grey family, friends of the couple. Sir William was more than twice Bess's age and the father of two daughters. His fortune had been made following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, since as an official of the Court of Augmentations he was able to select choice properties for himself. Possibly acting on Bess's advice, Sir William sold his lands in the south of England and bought the Chatsworth estates in her home county of Derbyshire. Sir William Cavendish died on 25 October 1557, leaving Bess widowed a second time and in deep debt to the Crown. Upon his death, Bess claimed the sum of his property, having insisted that his land be settled on their heirs.
The eight children of the marriage, two of whom died in infancy, were as follows: