I am a big fan of the Tudor period and enjoy reading historical books and biographies from the period to indulge my Tudor 'geekery'. A friend has bought some of these biographies as a Christmas present over the last few years, and knowing I prefer the female perspective chose the biography Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth by Mary S Lovell last Christmas. I had come across Bess before as a peer of Elizabeth I and a friend to Lady Jane Grey and her sisters. The book is vast at some 550 pages and I was initially daunted and procrastinated a bit, but once I got stuck in I really enjoyed it. It is worth noting that the biography is a more modest 479 pages, the back of the book is mainly appendices, notes and an index. Also there are two sections of colour photographs between the pages.

Due to lack of accurate records, the baby Elizabeth Hardwick was born sometime in late 1527 when Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon were on the throne. The Hardwick family were reputable and highly regarded but due to her father's death when she was a baby, they were also very poor. It was customary for young girls of such families to be sent away to wealthier relatives where they would serve as junior Ladies-in-Waiting (not servants as such, but would be expected to run errands, needlework tasks and make themselves useful as well as be good company). Bess, aged 10, was sent to distant cousins the Zouche family. It was here that she met her first husband, a neighbour's son Robert Barlow. They were married when Bess was 15, and he 13. Her husband died some eighteen months later, and it is unlikely the marriage was consummated (this often didn't happen until later in the child marriages). From here Bess moved to the Grey family, which was a very distinguished household to be part of and this is how Bess would have met the Grey sisters. It is also here that she met her second husband Sir William Cavendish, with whom she had eight children, of which six survived into adulthood. From him, no doubt, Bess learnt how to manage accounts and develop her shrewd business and financial skills that served her so well in later life and it was at this time that the work began on the original Chatsworth House. After ten seemingly happy years, Cavendish died after an illness, but with some debts having been accused of embezzlement in his duties to the Queen (Mary I). Bess was a widow again at 30.

All in all Bess married four times, mainly to rich and successful men, and became a key figure in the royal court of Queen Elizabeth. Bess was involved in the occasional court scandal, battled Parliament regarding laws of inheritance, got to know Mary, Queen of Scots as well as Queen Elizabeth and arranged significant marriages for her children. She was ambitious but kind and generous. Possibly manipulative, but only for the good of her family. She was a canny businesswoman and a loyal friend, subject and family member. However, if you betrayed her trust and loyalty she would not forgive you easily and members of her own family often abused this privilege. Bess also knew a lot of heartbreak in her life, with the death of much loved husbands, children and grand-children. Living to eighty is no mean feat in Tudor England.


Whilst I was puzzled regarding Bess's financial situation (her second husband left debts, and fourth husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury, denied her money) she didn't seem to go without, and continued to build and extend magnificent homes where she dreamed of entertaining royalty. Quite how this was the case wasn't really clear to me. That aside, I enjoyed this book very much. I felt Lovell described her character very well. Whilst Bess appeared to be no great beauty she obviously had enough charm and charisma to secure her fortunate marriages and her influential friends. The author, Mary S Lovell, was previously unfamiliar to me. She is a former accountant who has written a number of biographies, and during the course of her research for the book, discovered that her husband's family were actually descended from the family of Bess's third husband Sir William St Loe. Her writing style is elegant, but clear. There are plenty of notes and citations, and it appears exceedingly well researched.
I enjoyed reading about the life of Bess of Hardwick and it was very informative as to the life of a non-Royal (but wealthy) Tudor household. I recommend it highly to fans of this era and historical biographies in general.