Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury

Title: Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury

Born: Circa 1520

Died: 13 February 1607

Buried: Derby Cathedral

Bess was born at Hardwick Old Hall (in an earlier and much smaller manor house than the grand remains we see today) into an impoverished family of minor gentry. Her date of birth is unknown but is thought to be around 1520/21 (although it could have been as late as 1527).

She is best known for dying one of the shrewdest and wealthiest women in England, thanks to four marriages and outwitting – and outliving – each of her husbands. 

The Zouch family (Anne Zounch nee Gainsford had been an early lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn) secured her first marriage to Robert Barlow at the tender age of 15. He died a couple of years later – before the marriage was consummated – leaving Bess a young widow. She managed to acquire some of Barlow’s estates through legal wrangling. Bess was on the up!

Subsequently, while working as a gentlewoman to the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, Henry and Frances Grey, parents of Lady Jane Grey, she met Sir William Cavendish. He was to become her second husband. They married in the final year of Henry VIII’s life, 1547. Together they had eight children, founding the lineage of the current Dukes of Devonshire. Remarkably, despite four husbands, Cavendish would be the only father of Bess’ children.

Her third husband, who she married when she was in her late thirties, was William St Loe, Captain of the Guard to Elizabeth I and Chief Butler of England. It is thought that he was poisoned by a family member, dying around five years into their marriage. Because of the in-fighting within his family, St Low left everything to Bess, leaving her with an estimated income in today’s money of around £20,000,000. At this point, Bees held a prestigious position as a Lady of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth I. Her wealth and privileged access to the monarch made her an eligible wife, and around three years later she married into the nobility, becoming Countess of Shrewsbury. Although her marriage to George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury was initially a happy one, it seems that due to increasing physical ailments and mental decline (during which time the Earl became increasingly paranoid), the marriage began to break down. By the 1580s the pair were estranged, although ultimately Bess was granted much of Shrewsbury’s land and wealth by the queen – much to the Earl’s chagrin.

From 1569, the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury were goalers of the Scots Queen, Army Stuart. The emotional and financial strain of maintaining the Scots queen and her entourage may have contributed to the breakdown of the Shrewsbury marriage. However, on the whole, the two women appeared to have gotten along well and spent many hours embroidering together. Both were accomplished needlewomen, and some of their work can be admired today at Oxburgh Hall, home of the ‘Oxburgh hangings’.

Bess died at Hardwick Hall on 13 February 1607. She was interred in a vault she had purchased beneath the floor of All Saints Church, then the parish church in derby (now a cathedral).

Visitor Information:

Derby Cathedral still retains the appearance of a large parish church. The present iteration was built upon the footprint of the previous fourteenth-century church. It is relatively small, quite unlike the grand medieval cathedrals we might see at Canterbury or Lincoln and, a little like Sheffield Cathedral, it is a mish-mash of architectural styles. The front tower is Tudor in origin (dated circa 1530), while the interior is of the eighteenth century and constructed in a Neo-Classical design in 1725 by the architect James Gibbs.

The Cavendish ‘area’, where you will find Bess of Hardwick’s monument, lies to the right of the nave, in a part of the old, medieval church known as St Katherine’s Quire. Bess’ tomb is undoubtedly one of the treasures of the cathedral. It was designed during her lifetime after the Countess purchased a vault in the original parish church. She intended this to house her body and that of her descendants. So, while her glorious funerary monument is above ground, her body is entombed in the vault below, along with a staggering 43 of her Cavendish descendants!

You will find her effigy lying recumbent in her state robes and wearing a coronet upon her head. Sited centrally is a carved marble tablet with her epitaph written in Latin. It translates as:

‘To the memory of  Elizabeth,  the daughter of  John  Hardwick, of Hardwick, in the county of  Derby, Esq.; and at length co-heiress to her brother  John. She was married first to  Robert  Barley, of Barley, in the said county of  Derby, Esq; afterwards to William  Cavendish, of Chatsworth,  knt. Treasurer of the  Chamber to the kings Henry the Eighth, and  Edward the  Sixth,  and to Queen Mary, to whom he was also a  privy councellor.  She then became the wife of Sir William St. Loe, captain of the royal guard.  Her last husband was the most noble George, (Talbot) Earl of  Shrewsbury.  By  Sir  William  Cavendish alone she had issue. This was three sons, namely, Henry Cavendish, of  Tutbury, in the county of  Stafford, Esq.; who took to wife Grace, the daughter of the said George Earl of Shrewsbury, but died without legitimate issue; William, created Baron Cavendish of Hardwick, and Earl of Devonshire, by his late Majesty  King James; and Charles Cavendish, of Welbeck, knt.,  father of the most honourable William Cavendish, Knight of the Bath, and Baron Ogle, by right of his mother, and on account of his merit created Viscount Mansfield; Earl, Marquis,  and Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and Earl Ogle, of Ogle. She had also the same number of daughters, viz. Frances, married to Sir Henry Pierpoint; Elizabeth, to Charles Stuart,  Earl of Lenox; and Mary, to Gilbert, Earl of  Shrewsbury. This most illustrious Elizabeth,  Countess of Shrewsbury, built the houses of Chatsworth, Hardwick and Oldcotes, highly distinguished by their magnificence, and finished her transitory life on the 13th of  February,  in the year of our Lord’s incarnation  1607,  and about the 87th year of her age;  and awaiting a glorious resurrection, lies interred underneath.’

Interestingly, part of the original vault was converted to the Chapel of St Katherine in the 1970s. You will find the flight of stone steps just before Bess’ memorial tomb. When the vault was initially accessed, many of the Cavendish coffins were uncovered in a poor state of repair. They were moved into the adjacent chamber, which today lies behind a locked door. You can also see the outline of the bricked-up shelves upon which the coffins rested before being moved to their current location. Make sure you look out for the ornate brass memorial plaques which once adorned the coffins and have now been re-sited upon the wall on either side of Bess’ tomb. This includes the plaque of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the subject of the film, ‘The Duchess’, which can be seen at the head of the stairs going down into St Katherine’s Chapel.

Derby Cathedral is in the Cathedral Quarter, right in the city’s heart and about a 20-minute walk from Derby central railway station. If you are travelling by car, there is easy parking close to the cathedral on the roads adjacent to it and in official car parks – although you will pay to park in both instances. Shops, cafes and restaurants directly surround the cathedral, so it is easy to rest and refresh after your visit.

Other Tudor Places to Visit Nearby:

• Tomb of the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury: Also in the Shrewsbury Chapel in Sheffield Cathedral.
• Sheffield Manor Lodge: (3 Miles) Once one of the principal homes of the Earls of Shrewsbury. It was also one of the locations where Mary, Queen of Scots, was held as a prisoner, and Thomas Wolsey was taken ill following his arrest at Cawood Castle. If you want to learn more about the Lodge and, in particular, Wolsey’s stay there, check out my blog: Sheffield Manor: Wolsey and the Spectre of Death.
• Hardwick Hall: (26 Miles) One of England’s finest and most celebrated prodigy houses built the formidable Bess of Hardwick. You can read about Bess’ tomb here, or if you are a Road Trip Traveller member of this site, you can read about it as part of my itinerary for a long weekend away in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.