A legend was to grow up in the Cavendish family that Bess had been told she would never die while she was still building. It was bitterly cold that winter. The Thames froze, birds dropped dead from the trees and, so it is said, a message came from the site of Bess's latest project that
work was impossible. She is supposed to have given orders that ale was to be heated to boiling point and used to mix the mortar, but in vain, and when the old lady heard this, she turned her face to the wall and died. It is a nice story, but Bess was not building anywhere in 1608. Oldcotes, her last house, had been finished nine years before. In any case, the facts of Bess are more stupendous than any fable. As she lay dying, she could look back on a lifespan and a record of achievement unrivalled among her contemporaries. Without any initial advantages of birth, influence or fortune she had carved out a brilliant business career in an age when competition for power and position was fierce and the penalties of failure were harsh. She had been a buyer and seller of land, a moneylender and a financier, a farmer, a merchant of lead and coal and timber. She had become an extremely rich woman. She had allied her family to the royal house of England.
It had not been easy. Bess had known sorrow and disappointment and fear. She had felt the consequences of royal displeasure, suffered from the malice of enemies and the squalid aftermath of a broken marriage. But always she had held her head high as she marched resolutely forward from one goal to the next. Bess had never asked for favours, never given way to self-pity. She has been described as *proud, furious, selfish and unfeeling', as *a bitter shrew', as being insatiable in her lust for money, power and possessions. Certainly she had always driven a hard bargain and spared little sympathy or understanding for those weaker than herself; but according to her own lights she had dealt justly and honestly and always drove herself as hard as she drove others.
And now none of it mattered any more - the dynasty she had founded, the empire she had created, the great houses she had built, the royal grand-daughter on whom she had pinned such hopes. Bess was slipping out on the ebb tide, away from the stifling, luxurious room she lay in,
the ring of eager, watchful faces, the chaplain droning his prayers at her bedside. What did she see in the shadows closing over her - her eyes turned inward now on the long pageant of her life. The four husbands she had outHved -young Robert Barlow who had died so long ago ? William Cavendish whose children she had born and striven for and from whom were to spring a line of dukedoms? William St Loe who had loved her; George, Earl of Shrewsbury who had come to hate her? Did she see Mary Queen of Scots, glittering, devious and dangerous; or the little Arbella, plump and docile at her lessons, learning to be a Queen under her grandmother's eye -Arbella whose final tragedy was now fast approaching, doomed since her birth, doomed by her own blood? Or did she see perhaps that other little girl who had set out so hopefully to seek her fortune in the great wide world ?
Bess died on February 13th, *about five of the clock in the afternoon'. They buried her under her splendid monument in All Saints Church in Derby, and there she lies undisturbed, this astonishing woman - part virago, part genius, part tycoon, part dreamer of dreams. Bess of Hardwick was a child of her age - and whatever her shortcomings, whatever mistakes she made, she is worthy of an honoured place among the marvellous Elizabethans.
A note on further reading
The only modern biography of Bess is Bess of Hardwick by Ethel Carleton Williams, Longmans, 1959. For an older view of her see Bess of Hardwick and her circle by M. S. Rawson, Hutchinson, 1910.
For Arbella the choice is wider. There is Arbella Stuart by P. M. Handover, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1957 and Arabella: the life and times of Lady Arabella Seymour 1375-1615 by Ian Mclnnes, published by W. H. Allen, 1968. Older works are The life and letters of Lady Arabella Stuart by Elizabeth Cooper, 2 vols. 1866 and The life of the Lady Arabella Stuart by E. T. Bradley, 2 vols. 1889. (This prints many of Arbella's letters in full and covers the events of 1602-03 in considerable detail.)
The story of Catherine Grey is told in Two Tudor portraits by Hester Chapman, Cape, i960. For both Arbella and Catherine see also Agnes Strickland's Lives of the Tudor and Stuart Princesses, Bell, 1888. Miss Strickland should be approached with some caution, but is well worth reading for her own sake.
The literature on Mary Stuart is voluminous, but the most recent full-length biography is Mary, Queen of Scots by Lady Antonia Fraser, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969; Panther, 1970. Mary Queen of Scots in captivity by J. D. Leader, Bell, 1880, covers the period Mary spent in the Shrewsburys' custody, and Mary Queen of Scots, her environment and tragedy by T. F. Henderson, Hutchinson, 2 vols. 1905 remains the best of the older biographies.
The standard life of Elizabeth is still Queen Elizabeth by J. E. Neale, Cape, 1934; n.e. 1967 (in paperback). An excellent short survey of the general background is S. T. Bindoff's Tudor England (PeHcan History of England), Penguin Books, 1950. The Elizabethan woman by Carroll
"4
Camden, Cleaver-Hume Press, 1953, is interesting for social and domestic life; Education and society in Tudor England by Joa.n Simon, C.U.P. 1966 is self-explanatory and so is Elizabethan taste by John Buxton, Macmillan, 1963; Papermacs 1966.
Older printed sources include Illustrations of British history by Edmund Lodge, 3 vols. 1791 and 1838, which prints a number of the Talbot Papers, Joseph Hunter's Hallamshire, 1819 and, for the building of Hard wick, Bess of Hardwick's buildings and building accounts by Basil Stally-brass in Archaeologia Ixiv 1913.
This, of course, is nothing like an exhaustive list. The Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scots, the Calendar of State Papers Spanish, the C.S.P, Venetian and the Reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission contain much relevant material and there are many more collections of source material.
The recent biographies mentioned above all contain detailed bibliographies and lists of references, and the invaluable Bibliography of British history: Tudor period, 1485-160J compiled by Conyers Read, O.U.P. 1959 is available in most reference libraries. This note is intended as no more than a brief guide to anyone interested in pursuing the subject a little further.
Acres, Thomas, 62 Ambassador, French, 32, 44, 50,
51,69 Ambassador, Scottish, 69 Ambassador, Spanish, 69 Ambassador, Venetian, 75 Ambassador, Venetian (in Germany), 69 Anne of Denmark, 67 Ascham, Roger, 36, 37 Ashford, 59, 60, 62
Bacon, Sir Francis, 57, 58, 61
Bakewell, 59
Barlow, Robert, 14-16, 18, 59,
113 Batley, John, 64 Beane, Thomas, 64 Bedfordshire, 104 Berkshire, 91 Bess of Hardwick
Birth (1520), II
Childhood, 11, 12
Education, 12, 13
Marriage to Robert Barlow (1532), 14, 15
Death of Robert Barlow (1533),
15 Marriage to Sir William Cavendish (1547), 16 Birth of eight children, 17 Renovation of Chatsworth, 17 Death of Sir William Cavendish (1557), 18, 19 Marriage to Sir William St Loe
(1559), 19 Imprisonment in Tower
(1561), 21 Death of Sir William St Loe
(1565), 21 Marriage to George Talbot,
6th Earl of Shrewsbury
(1568), 2.
Imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots, 23-28
Marriage of Elizabeth Cavendish to Charles Stuart, 28-34
Imprisonment in Tower
(1574), 32 Birth of Arbella Stuart (1575),
33-34 Education and upbringing of
Arbella Stuart, 35-43 Death of Elizabeth Lennox,
38
Quarrel with Mary, Queen of Scots, 44, 45, 50-53
Discord with Earl of Shrewsbury, 47-55
Death of Earl of Shrewsbury
(1590), 55 Building of Hardwick Hall,
56-65 Marriage projects for Arbella
Stuart, 66-76 Daily life at Hardwick Hall,
77-82 Deterioration of relations with
Arbella Stuart, 94-104 Will, 105-107, no. III Inventory of Hardwick, 106-
108 F
ounding of Almshouse at
Derby, 109, no Death (1608), 113 Bertie, Mr, 28 Bisseter, Master, 17 Bolsover, 48 Boseley, Reinold, 68 Bradgate, 16 Bromley, Henry, 64 Bromley, William, 64
116
Broimker, Sir Henry, 87-94, Q^j
99-104 Brussels, 68, 69 Burghley, Lord. See Cecil, WU-
liam
Caen, 59
Cambridge, 36
Camden, William, 24
Carlisle, 23
Castile, Adelantado of, 68
Catholics, 24, 70, 72, 73, 75
Cavendish, Charles, 17, 42, 44, 50*57.65, no. Ill
Cavendish, Elizabeth. See Stuart, Elizabeth, Countess of Lennox
Cavendish family, 22, 29, 34, 40, 41*47,55,78,83, III
Cavendish, Frances, 17, 65
Cavendish, Henry, 17, 21, 57, 84, 85, 102, 103, 106
Cavendish, Lucrece, 17
Cavendish, Mary. See Talbot, Mary, Countess of Shrewsbury
Cavendish, Michael, 41
Cavendish, Temperance, 17
Cavendish, Sir William, 16-19,
113 Cavendish, William (son of Sir
William and Bess), 17, 50,
57,65,77,78,84,87,88,101,
106, III Cavendish, William (grandson of
Bess), 106 Cecil, Sir Robert, 69, 87, 88, 91,
96-100, 103, 105 Cecil, William (Lord Burghley),
23, 29-31, 39, 42, 46, 47, 52,
54,68-71,87 Chatsworth House, 17-19, 27,34,
35,47,49,57, 106, 107 Chellten, Walter, 64 Clay, Mr, 111 Clay, Mary, 111
Cobham, Lord, 21
Conde, Prince of, 68
Cordley, Robert, 64
Council, Privy, 24-26, 32, 39, 47,
70, 90, 100 Coventry, Bishop of, 55 Crich, 59, 111
Darcy, Lord, 21
Darnley, Lord. See Stuart, Henry
Derby, 109, no, in, 113
Derby, Earl of, 73
Derbyshire, 12, 14, 16-18, 33,
41, 56, 73, 75, 78, 81, 88,
99,107 Digby, Mrs, 111 Dodderidge, John, 83, 84, 85, 90,
91 Dolphin, Lawrence, 62 Dorset, Marchioness of. See Grey,
Frances Dorset, Marquis of. See Grey,
Henry Douai, 70 Dowland, John, 41 Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester,
30,31,36,54 Dudley, Robert (son of Earl of
Leicester), 36 Durham, Thomas, 64
Edensor, 34
Edward III, King of England, 105
Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 7, 19-22, 24, 25, 27, 30-33> 35-48, 50-55, 57, 65-78, 82, 84-85, 87-90, 92-94, 96-loi, 104, 105
England, 23, 24, 28, 29, 55, 57, 59,68-70,72, loi, 112
Essex, Earl of, 69, 72
Europe, 68, 72, 81
Flanders, 70 Fotheringay Castle, 23
Fowler, Thomas, 32, 68 France, 69, 72 France, King of, 69
Gaunt, John of, 73 Gibbons, Orlando, 41 Government, the English, 24, 33 Grey, Lady Catherine, 19-22,32,
85,90,91 Grey family, 21 Grey, Frances (Marchioness of
Dorset, Duchess of Suffolk),
16, 17,28,33 Grey, Henry (Marquis of Dorset,
Duke of Suffolk), 16, 17 Grey, Lady Jane, 16, 17, 20, 85
Hackney, 31 Hardwick, 17 Hardwick family, 11 Hardwick Hall, 7, 8, 22, 23, 56-62, 64, 65, 73, 75, 77-81, 83-85, 87-89, 91-^4, 97, 99-101, 103-108 High Presence Chamber, 22,
61,81, 107 Paved Room, 61 Long Gallery, 62, 63, 65, 81 Great Hall, 64 Tapestries, 81, 107, 108 Inventory, 106-108 Hardwick, Mistress, 11, 15 Hardwick Old Hall, 11, 35, 59,
60, 64 Harington, John, 72, 75 Harrison, Wilham, 57-60, 82 Hatfield, 87 Hatton family, 108 Hayward, Dorothy, no Hayward, Richard, no Henry VHI, King of England,
16, 20, 40 Hertford, Earl of. See Seymour,
Edward Holm, Robert, 60 Huntingdon, 28, 30
Ireland, 16, 101
James VI of Scotland and I of England, 28, 50, 52, 53, 66-69, 72, 73, 75, 85, 92, 96, 100, 102, 105
Jenkinson, Sir Harry, 59
Johnston, Nathaniel, 14
Kent, Earl of, 104 Kirk o'Field, 27, 28 Knollys, Sir Francis, 23, 26
Leicester, Earl of See Dudley,
Robert Lennox, Countess of. See Stuart,
Elizabeth and Stuart, Margaret Lennox, Duke of. See Stuart,
Ludovic Lennox, Earl of See Stuart,
Charles Leviston, Lady, 26 Lochleven Castle, 23 London, 12-14,18, 22,25,28, 30,
31,39,42-44,46,72,74,75,
79, 88, 100, no River Thames, 111 Towerof, 21,32, 33, 74 Longleat, 18, 21
Madrid, 68
Mallery, Richard, 64
Marker, John, 63
Mary I, Queen of England, 17, 19, 20, 87
Mary, Queen of Scots. See Stuart, Mary
Matthias, Duke, 69
Mauvissi^re (French Ambassador), 50, 51
Maximihan, Emperor, 69
Monasteries, Dissolution of, 16
Moore, Gilbert, 64
Morley, Mr, 71
Mulcaster, Richard, 13 Munich, 68, 69
Neall, Henry, 64 Nevers, Duke of, 74, 75 Normandy, 59 North, Thomas, 69 Northumberland, Earl of, 35, 74 Nottingham, 63
Oldcotes, 99, 106, 107, 112
Padley, Miles, 62
Paget, Lord, 35
Painter, John, 63
Paris, 68
Parma, Duke of, 68, 69, 73
Persons, Father, 73, 74
Philip II, King of Spain, 72, 73
Philip III, King of Spain, 101
Plumber, William, 64
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 42 Richmond Palace, loi Roads, Christopher, 60 Roads, John, 60 Rome, 69, 70 Rufford, 28, 29, 30
St Albans, 18
St James's Palace, 87
St John's College, Cambridge,
36
St Loe, Sir William, 19, 21, 113
Savoy, Duke of, 73
Scotland, 28, 38, 67, 68, loi, 105
Seaton, Mrs, 26
Seymour, Edward (Earl of Hertford), 20, 84, 85, 90, 91, 93, 96,98
Seymour, Edward (grandson of Earl of Hertford), 83-85, 96,
lOI
Seymour, Jane (Queen of England), 85 Sheffield, 47, 49, 54
Sheffield Castle, 25, 31, 35, 53 Sheffield Lodge, 49 Sheldon, Mr, 108 Shrewsbury, Earls and Coim-tesses of. See Bess of Hard-wick; Talbot, George; Talbot, Gilbert; Talbot, Mary Skegby, 59
Smith, Abraham, 60-63, 81 Smythson, Robert, 59 Sol way Firth, 23 Spain, 45, 70
Spain, King of (Philip III), loi Spain, Isabel, Infanta of, 72, 73 Stafford, Sir Edward, 69 Staffordshire, 25 Stanley, Sir William, 70 Stapleton, Mr, 102, 103 Starkey, the Reverend John, 78,
79,83 Stuart, Arbella Birth (1575), 34 Childhood and education, 35-
43,78 Marriage projects, 66-75 Marriage project with Edward
Seymour, 83-96 Removal from Hard wick, 104 Other references, 50,55,56,64,
65, 76, 77, 79, 82, 97-103,
105, 106, no, 113 Stuart, Charles (Earl of Lennox),
28-33, 38, 69 Stuart, Elizabeth (Countess of
Lennox), 17, 29-33, 38, 39,
52 Stuart family, 28, 30, 34, 38, 75 Stuart, Henry (Lord Damley),
27,28,33 Stuart, Ludovic (Duke of Lennox), 67, 68 Stuart, Margaret (Countess of
Lennox), 8, 28-33, 38 Stuart, Mary (Queen of Scots), 8,
23-28, 32, 33, 38, 44-47,
50-53,59,67, 113
Stubbes, John, 6i
SufTolk, Duchess of. See Grey,
Frances Suffolk, Duke of. See Grey, Henry
Talbot, Elizabeth (cousin of
Arbella Stuart), 104 Talbot family, 40, 41, 47, 65 Talbot, George (6th Earl of
Shrewsbury), 8, 14, 21, 22,
24-27,29-31,44-57,64,105,
107, 113 Talbot, Gilbert (7th Earl of
Shrewsbury), 22, 42, 47-50,
64, 107, no. III Talbot, Mary (Countess of
Shrewsbury), 17, 21, 42, 47,
64, 74, no. III Templenewsam, 32 Thynne, Sir John, 18, 21, 60 Tudor family, 28, 40 Tudor, Margaret, 24
Turner, Dr, 69 Tuscany, Duke of, 69 Tutbury
Castle, 25, 26, 59, 62
Walsingham, Francis, 32, 38, 67,
68 Ward, John, 64 Warner, Sir Edward (Lieutenant
of the Tower), 20 Westmorland, Earl of, 68 White, Nicholas, 26 Whitfield, Francis, 17 Wingfield, 59 Wollaton Hall, 59 Worcester, Earl of, 73 Worth, Roger, 17 Worthington, Edward, 64 Wrest Park, 104
Yorkshire, 28, 38, 79
Zouch, Lady, 12, 14
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