Bess of Hardwick
Bess of Hardwick was an influential aristocrat in England. She is also variably referred to as Elizabeth Cavendish (taking her second husband's name) or Elizabeth Talbot (taking her fourth husband's name).
Contents
History
Bess was a younger daughter of John and Elizabeth Hardwick (same name). They were not wealthy but did hold land.
Bess married Robert Barlow in 1543. He was wealthy and held land in Derbyshire, and left everything to Bess when he died in 1544. Three years later, she married William Cavendish. She convinced him to centralize their holdings to Derbyshire and construct Chatsworth House. William died in 1557 and was survived by six children.
In 1559 Bess again married, this time to the extremely wealthy William St Loe. He held lands across England and was influential in the court of Elizabeth I. He had no male heir and left everything to Bess when he died in 1565.
She arranged for her daughter Frances to marry Henry Pierrepont, from whom the dukes of Kingston descend.
Her fourth and final husband was George Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury. With blessing from Elizabeth, these families were joined in 1567 by their own marriage, the marriage of Bess' eldest son Henry Cavendish to George's daughter Grace, and the marriage of George's eldest son Gilbert Talbot to Bess' daughter Mary. The dukes of Norfolk descend from Gilbert and Mary.
Bess hosted Mary (queen of Scots, not Bess' daughter) for nearly two decades of her house arrest. She conspired with Margaret Douglass, niece of Henry VIII by his eldest sister Margaret Tudor, to marry Bess' daughter Elizabeth (same name) and Douglass' eldest son, Charles Stuart, earl of Lennox. Beyond that matrilineal claim to the English throne, Charles' late brother Henry Stuart had been Mary's king consort. Both Bess and Margaret were summoned to court to answer for the controversial match. Margaret would be imprisoned in the Tower of London until Charles' death two years later, while Bess convinced Elizabeth that the match was not in support of Mary's claim.
After her older brother James Hardwick died in 1583, Bess purchased her family's land in her son's (William Cavendish, named for his father) name and constructed Hardwick Hall.
Her marriage with George ended disastrously. Tensions emerged from the mounting costs of hosting Mary and of constructing the new Hardwick Hall. George forcefully seized Chatsworth House until the privy council intervened with fines. This conflict divided the families. Gilbert sided with Bess, while Henry and Charles Cavendish sided with George.
George died in 1590, leaving Gilbert to succeed as earl of Shrewsbury; he notably denied Bess any claim to his father's wealth.
Bess raised her granddaughter by Charles Stuart and Elizabeth, Arbella Stuart, after she was orphaned in 1582. Arbella was kept isolated and was briefly considered as an heir to Elizabeth I.
Bess died in 1607. William inherited both Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House. He was created baron of Hardwick in 1605 and created earl of Devonshire in 1618; the dukes of Devonshire descend from him.
Charles would go on to marry and have children; the dukes of Newcastle are descended from him. In all, four ducal houses descend from Bess.