Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth

First Line: "Little Bess Hardwick never knew her father."

Bess Hardwick, child of minor gentry, grew up to become the second richest and most important woman in England. Not bad at all when the richest and most important woman was Queen Elizabeth I. Lovell presents Bess's life as a study in how

education, connections, marriage and property management shaped the life of one particular 16th century woman. Bess served in noble and royal households at key points in the years of Henry VIII and his three daughters. She helped her fourth husband guard Mary, Queen of Scots and raised her own granddaughter, Arbella Stuart, with an eye to the throne. She became a successful property manager in partnership with her second husband, William Cavendish, and she built up properties and incomes throughout the rest of her life. Lovell dug deep and found facts that disprove Bess's reputation of being (what we would call today) a cold-hearted bitch. Bess married for love, she loved her children and grandchildren, and she loved to spend money and build fabulous houses. She beat the men at their own game over and over again, and the men resented the stuffing out of her. Lovell must've spent thousands of hours pouring over historical records, and I'm glad she did because it disproves the maliciousness that has lingered over the centuries.

Bess has always been one of my favorite historical figures, and I've lived with the rhyme "Hardwick Hall, More glass than wall" running through my mind for decades. In April, I was thrilled to stop at Bess's most wonderful house--Hardwick Hall--and walk around the grounds. Now I can say that there are two homes of "great personages" that make me smile...that make me feel as if the builder crept into my mind on little fog feet and discovered what I like most in a house. Jefferson's Monticello is one. Hardwick Hall is the
other. I really enjoyed reading Lovell's biography of Bess.

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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle

A well-researched and accessible account of Bess of Hardwick, the formidable matriarch of the 'Chatsworth' Cavendish family.

Born at Old Hardwick House in Derbyshire, Bess built her own powerful and wealthy dynasty during the Elizabethan era by marrying onwards and upwards, acquiring money, status

and a title from her four husbands (the first of whom she married at the 'tender age' of fifteen). Biographer Mary Lovell is keen to defend Bess as a shrewd businesswoman and loving wife and mother, instead of the traditional historical portrait of a calculating golddigger and grasping old harridan, and presents a convincing case. Bess' first husband died young, and Bess had to fight for her rights as his widow. Husband number two, Sir William Cavendish, was twice Bess' age and twice widowed, but he bought the Chatsworth estate for Bess and they had eight children together, including second son William, whose descendents include the first Duke of Devonshire. Bess' next husband, Sir William St Loe, left Bess all of his considerable fortune, making her one of the wealthiest women in the country, after Queen Elizabeth. And her fourth marriage, a final love match which soured in later years, was to George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, making Bess a Countess. The Earl was given the poisoned chalice of 'keeping' Mary, Queen of Scots, after she was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth in 1568, and the strain of guarding Mary in the Earl's own houses and castles for fifteen years eventually caused the breakdown of the Earl's marriage to Bess, and destroyed his health.

After her last husband's death, Bess focused her considerable energies and wealth on her children and grandchildren - in particular her granddaughter Arbella, a potential heir to the throne after Elizabeth - and on expanding her already vast estates. Leaving Chatsworth, the house which she started building with Sir William Cavendish and later shared with the Earl (and Mary, Queen of Scots, on occasion) for her son, Bess set to building a new Hardwick Hall for herself, an impressive house - 'more glass than wall' - which remains today as a lasting monument to an incredible and determined woman.

I was disappointed that I was unable to borrow Mary Lovell's biography from the library - I plead lack of shelf space for not buying my own copy - because the Kindle version does not include any of the images featured in the printed copy, but this is an excellent account of Bess of Hardwick all the same. Lovell expertly combines history with personality, bringing to life the social and political background of Bess' England, so that modern readers understand just how impressive this woman was. I am full of admiration for Bess, who married at fifteen and lived until she was eighty, and cannot wait to visit her beloved house, Hardwick Hall, later this year!

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LibraryThing member LARA335

Impeccably researched biography of Bess, who through her four marriages and astute purchasing of land and its management became one of the wealthiest woman in England.

A contemporary, and friend of Elizabeth I, Bess appears to have been the only woman at court who had access to and so knew Mary

Queen of Scots well, as the latter was her house-guest and prisoner for many years. And if Bess's ambitions had been fully realised, she would have become the grandmother of a future queen, seemingly holding her grand-child under house arrest to attain that end.

My one quibble with Mary Lovell is that she endeavours to paint Bess in a too positive light, emphasising how 'generous' Bess was (despite constantly complaining about lack of money in her letters) and a loving matriarch. But Bess became estranged from many members of her family. And even Elizabeth I had to step in to curb Bess's empire building when she tried to enclose common-land. I doubt the folk reliant on the common to scrape a living had much sympathy for Bess's complaints of being short of money when she already had numerous houses and was increasing the size of Chatsworth.

So I gasped at her vaulting ambitions and greed, but this was a revealing if under critical account of a fascinating woman living in a fascinating period of history.

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LibraryThing member Meggo

For a400+ page book, I found this one surprisingly hard to put down. Bess of Hardwick was born a gentleman's daughter, and through marrying well (and marrying often), she rose to become a Countess, and the second-richest woman in England...after Queen Elizabeth I. Not only did she know everyone of

note in the Tudor period, she was also, for over a decade, one of the jailors of Mary Queen of Scots before her execution. A strong, far-sighted woman ahead of her time, she really shows how important investing wisely can be.

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LibraryThing member annesion

This is refreshing biography of a powerhouse of a woman! Lovell brings to life the characters of the time, and recreates admirably the circumstances, advantages, and disadvantages women had during the Elizabethan era. A great read for those interested in the English Aristocracy.

LibraryThing member reginaromsey

A woman to match Elizabeth in gumption and willingness to accept and make the most of what life handed her. Not a motherly person. I suspect I would have been completely overwhelmed by her.

LibraryThing member emmakendon

I found Lovell's style so dry that the book and its people are quite immemorable. Could say much about me though. It is a pleasure to come away from the sugary romance of the historical novel, certainly. Poor Earl of Shrewsbury, driven mad between Elizabeth I, Bess and May Queen of Scots, and poor

Arbella who barely felt she tasted freedom do get a special mention from me.

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LibraryThing member satyridae

I'm a Tudor history buff, but I just plain couldn't finish this. It was solidly researched and very interesting but as dry as a barrel of low-salt soda crackers.

LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing

Very well researched, complete with comprehensive documentation (footnotes AND endnotes, oh joy!) and a good understanding of the scholarship that’s come before. The book (a biography of a gentlewoman who lived through the later Tudor monarchs) has a tendency to get bogged down in details and

tangents, but I’d rather err on the side of too much than too little.

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