Irene Preston's Historical Writing
BESS OF HARDWICK
Bess of Hardwick could trace her
line back to Edward I and the Bohun family, Earls of Northampton and
Hereford. She was born in 1520, one of three daughters of Squire John
Hardwick of Hardwick Hall, a country gentleman of an ancient family, but
diminished fortune. The family had lived there for two centuries, they
leased the hall from Sir John Savage. Bess' father died in 1528. When
she was twelve she was taken into the household of a kind relative, Lady
Zouche. She helped to nurse a young boy of fourteen called Robert Barlow
whom she married on condition that she became his heir and inherited his
vast estates with lead and coal mines.
She then became a waiting gentlewoman in the household, in
Leicestershire, of Lady Frances the wife of Henry Grey the Marques of
Dorset. The Greys were kinsmen of the Zouches and distantly the
Hardwicks.
Frances was the daughter of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon the Duke of
Suffolk; and Mary was the younger sister of Henry VIII. Mary had first
married Louis of France, who died several years later. Frances was
therefore a princess of royal blood but no title.
She had three daughters of which the first was Jane who was executed in
1554 by Queen Mary for taking the throne. The second was Catherine who
married Edward Seymour, Earl of Hereford. They had two sons, Edward and
Thomas. It was William the first son of Edward, and grandson of
Catherine, who married Arbella granddaughter of Bess of Hardwick.
Bess, at nineteen, soon became part of Elizabeth's Court where she met
William Cavendish who was twice her age and a widower with three
daughters. They were betrothed in 1547. He was in charge of disposing of
the church properties during the dissolution. He made money and bought
many properties himself.
When he married Bess he sold most of his properties and bought
Chatsworth manor and built the first Chatsworth in 1557. William died
the same year.
Bess spent a lot of time at Court and met Queen Elizabeth's Captain of
the Guard, Sir William St. Loe and married in 1559 for the third time.
He was from an old warrior family who came over with the Conqueror and
was in command of 2000 men in Ireland for Henry VIII. He died in 1565.
Bess then met George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, he was also a
widower and had married his son and heir to Ann Herbert the daughter of
the Earl of Pembroke.
William Herbert 1506-1570 had married Ann Parr sister of Catherine, the
last Queen of Henry VIII. He was looked upon with favour and received
many gifts including the old Wilton Abbey which had been a place of
worship for 1000 years. William Herbert was made Earl of Pembroke and he
began building Wilton House.
Elizabeth I was a frequent visitor to Wilton and godmother to his son
William. In his youth William was imprisoned for a short time for
seducing one of her maids of honour, Mary Fitton of Gawsworth Hall.
Mary was dismissed from court and went to live with her sister, Lady
Newdigate of Arbury. Mary's baby died after birth. William later married
Lady Mary Talbot, Bess' granddaughter. Before Bess would marry George
Talbot she arranged the betrothals of their children, Henry Cavendish,
aged seventeen, to Grace Talbot, aged eight, and Gilbert Talbot, aged
fifteen, to Mary Cavendish, aged twelve, in 1568. That same year she
married George and became Countess of Shrewsbury.
During the 18th century Horace Walpole, the son of Robert Walpole the
Prime Minister, wrote the following ditty about Bess of Hardwick.
'Four times the nuptial bed she warmed
and each time so well performed
when death had spoiled each husband's billing
he left the widow every shilling.'
The marriage soon became strained, due mainly to George having been
given the burden of keeping Mary Queen of Scots prisoner. The pair lived
in separate households. Bess lived at Chatsworth with her family. George
died in 1590 a shadow of his former self. Before he died Bess had
removed herself to her childhood home and started to rebuild Hardwick
Old Hall. Bess was so rich and powerful she decided to build a new hall
as a statement of her wealth and power. In 1597 Bess had reached the age
of seventy seven and the new Hardwick Hall was finished. She moved into
her grand house and lived in Elizabethan splendour until her death in
1608.
An earlier John Talbot 1392-1453 had been a soldier since the age of
fourteen and fought in forty battles during the Hundred Years War
between England and France. He was the second son of the 4th Baron
Talbot. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland three times and in 1433 he won
several victories in France at the time of Joan of Arc. He was created
1st Earl of Shrewsbury in 1442. He inherited Alton Castle through
marriage which became a vast estate with Alton at its centre. In the
1790s it was a comfortable homestead with farm buildings. Today we know
the area as Alton Towers.
William Cavendish, the son of Bess and William, was created the 1st Earl
of Devonshire by King James I in 1618. It was the 4th Earl who rebuilt
Chatsworth in 1684 and in 1688 he helped William of Orange take the
throne of England. The Earl was created Duke in honour of his services.
When Bess' father died her mother had married again to Ralph Leche and
his son married Bess' sister Alice. The Leche (Leech) family originated
in Chatsworth but moved to Carden when the first John Leche received a
grant of land from King Edward III in 1346. His son John became surgeon
or leech to the king, gaining lands and prominence at court. The family
also had a town house on the Rows in Chester called 'The Watergate'.