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English noblewoman and businesswoman

Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; c. 1521 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well made marriages, she rose to the highest levels of English nobility and became enormously wealthy. Bess was reportedly a shrewd businesswoman, increasing her assets with business interests including mines and glass making workshops. She was married four times. Her first husband was Robert Barley (or Barlow), who died aged about 14 or 15 on 24 December 1544. Her second husband was the courtier Sir William Cavendish. Her third husband was Sir William St Loe. Her last husband was George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, sometime keeper to the captive Mary, Queen of Scots. An accomplished needlewoman, Bess joined her husband's captive charge at Chatsworth House for extended periods in 1569, 1570, and 1571, during which time they worked together on the Oxburgh Hangings. In 1601, Bess ordered an inventory of the household furnishings, including textiles, at her three properties at Chatsworth, Hardwick, and Chelsea, which survives. In her will she bequeathed these items to her heirs to be preserved in perpetuity. The 400 year old collection, now known as the Hardwick Hall textiles, is the largest collection of tapestry, embroidery, canvaswork, and other textiles to have been preserved by a single private family. Bess is also well known for her building projects, the most famous of which are Chatsworth, now the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire (whose family name is Cavendish as they descend from the children of her second marriage), and Hardwick Hall.

Elizabeth Hardwick was the daughter of John Hardwick of Derbyshire by his wife Elizabeth Leeke, daughter of Thomas Leeke and Margaret Fox. Her exact birthdate is unknown, occurring in the period 1521 to 1527; that said, according to her witness statement under oath at a court hearing in October 1546, in which she gives her age at the time of her first marriage in May 1543 as being "of tender years", i. e. less than 16, would indicate 1527. It cannot be later than 1527 because of the date of her father's death, given in his Inquisition Post Mortem. The Hardwicks had arrived in Derbyshire from Sussex by the mid thirteenth century, and farmed land granted by Robert Savage, lord of the manor of Stainsby, on the north east border of Derbyshire, looking over Nottinghamshire. By the mid fifteenth century the family had risen to "gentleman yeoman" stock, with an estate of a few hundred acres located mainly in the parish of Ault Hucknall in the manor of Stainsby. The Hardwick coat of arms of Hardwick was probably granted c. 1450 to William Hardwick. The blazon is: Argent, a saltier engrailed azure on a chief of the second three cinquefoils of the first. where she was supposedly influenced by Lady Zouche. Despite a lack of evidence, it is possible – but no more than that – that at some point, perhaps after the death of her first husband, she entered the service of the Zouches at Codnor Castle in Derbyshire. A close family associate was a man named Henry Marmion whose family held land close to Codnor, and may have commended Bess to the Zouches who, along with the Vernons, were the only major Derbyshire family likely to have taken in such children. However, Anne Gainsford was in service in the households of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, and despite marrying Sir George Zouche in 1533, spent much of her time at court until after 1536, when she and Sir George made Codnor Castle their main residence. Not surprisingly, this period coincides with the time that Dugdale claimed Bess was in service to Anne Gainsford in London and at Codnor. However, there is no evidence to support the story, and Dugdale would have known much more about the early life of Lady Zouche than was known of Bess's origins. Again, according to Dugdale, from Codnor Bess entered the service of the Greys at Bradgate in Leicestershire, where she met and married her second husband, Sir William Cavendish. She certainly married Sir William at Bradgate, but that in itself does not prove that Bess was in service at Bradgate. It remains possible that she met Sir William elsewhere, possibly at Codnor. More likely, she was recommended to the Greys by Henry Grey's sister, Margaret, Lady Willoughby. Henry Marmion was one the Willoughby's most trusted upper servants, he was also one of the two men appointed in Bess's father's will and guardians of his children. (the other was Bess's uncle, John Leake).

In 1543, Bess married 13 year old Robert Barley (or Barlow), heir to a neighbouring estate. The exact date of her marriage to Robert is unknown. It is thought that the marriage took place late May 1543, shortly before the death of Robert's father on 28 May. There is no evidence that they lived together as husband and wife. Robert died in December 1544. There was no issue from the marriage, which had been arranged locally, probably initially to protect the Barley patrimony and to mitigate the impact of wardship on the Barley estate should Robert succeed his father as an underage heir. The traditional story that Robert and Bess met in London while in the service of a "Lady Zouche" is based on oral history, which can only be dated to the late seventeenth century (some eighty years after Bess's death). The marital claims to Robert's estate were disputed, and following his death Bess was refused dower by Peter Freschevile. A court battle ensued, which resulted in Bess being awarded her claim on the Barley estate and compensation, albeit several years after Robert's death.

In 1559 Bess married a third time, to Sir William St Loe (1518–1565) (alias St Lowe, Saintlowe, Sentloe, etc.) and became Lady St Loe. Her new husband was Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth I and Chief Butler of England. Due to his relationship with Queen Elizabeth I, he was able to reduce the debt Bess owed and paid it back in full on her behalf. He owned large West Country estates at Tormarton in Gloucestershire and Chew Magna in Somerset, while his principal residence was at Sutton Court in Stowey. When he died without male issue in 1564/5, in suspicious circumstances (probably poisoned by his younger brother), he left everything to Bess, to the detriment of his daughters and brother.]] Despite being courted by several suitors, Bess did not remarry until 1568, when she married for the fourth time to become Countess of Shrewsbury. Her new husband, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, was one of the premier aristocrats of the realm, and the father of seven children by his first marriage. Indeed, two of his children were married to two of hers in a double ceremony in February 1568: Bess's daughter Mary Cavendish, aged 12, was given in marriage to Shrewsbury's eldest son Gilbert, aged 16; while Bess's son, Sir Henry Cavendish, aged 18, married Shrewsbury's daughter Lady Grace Talbot, aged 8. In the year before Bess and the Earl of Shrewsbury were married, a political disturbance arose in Scotland, which would profoundly affect their lives. Rebel Scottish lords rose up against Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned her, and forced her to abdicate in favour of her one year old infant son, James. In May 1568, Mary escaped captivity in Scotland, and fled south towards England, seeking the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. However, the English authorities were not sure how to receive her. On 18 May, she was taken into protective custody at Carlisle Castle by local officials. Queen Elizabeth felt obliged to host and protect Mary, her cousin, against the rebellious Scottish lords. However, due to Mary's persistent claim to the English throne, Elizabeth also regarded her as a threat. Elizabeth had Mary moved to Bolton Castle in Yorkshire, where she was lodged under the guard of Francis Knollys, pending the York Conference inquiry, regarding Mary's fate. The inquiry results were inconclusive; yet Elizabeth did not set Mary free. Instead, Mary would be detained under the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife Bess. Elizabeth's instruction to Bess and her husband amounted to little more than Mary's house arrest. Mary reached her new residence, Tutbury Castle, in February 1569, when she was 26 years old, and would remain in the custody of Shrewsbury and Bess for 15 years. Elizabeth shifted the costs of the imprisonment to Shrewsbury. It was recorded that Mary would use the couple's insecurities against each other, even convincing Talbot that Bess was stealing. While in the care of the earl and countess, Queen Mary lived at one or another of their many houses in the Midlands: Tutbury, Wingfield Manor, Chatsworth House, and Sheffield Manor. Throughout this period, Bess spent time as Mary's companion, working with her on embroidery and textile projects. Indeed, all Mary's work later became part of Bess's historical collection at Hardwick Hall. Bess joined Mary at Chatsworth for extended periods in 1569, 1570, and 1571, during which time they worked together on the Oxburgh Hangings. but seems unlikely given Shrewsbury's disposition and increasingly poor health. On his death in 1590, Bess became Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury. She lived mostly at Hardwick, where she built the new mansion Hardwick Hall, which inspired the rhyme, "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall", because of the number and size of its windows. She was indeed one of the greatest builders of her time at Hardwick, Chatsworth House, and Oldcoates. showed that Bess very much desired Arbella to become Queen, even imprisoning the young lady to prevent her from eloping. Arbella blamed her grandmother for this, and the two fell out irrevocably when Arbella attempted to run away and marry a man who, as a descendant of Henry VII, also had a claim to the throne. Bess cut Arbella from her will and begged the Queen to take her granddaughter off her hands. Arbella's royal claim was never recognized. Despite disinheriting Arbella and her eldest son (Henry: for aiding Arbella's escape); Bess later had a "lukewarm reconciliation with her granddaughter.

Bess of Hardwick died at 5 pm on Saturday 13 February 1608, aged 81. At the time of her death she remained "one of the richest, and most powerful women in the kingdom". Bess of Hardwick is the narrator of Petticoat King, a 1929 novel by Miriam Michelson. Bess is a character in the short story "Antickes and Frets" by Susanna Clarke, in her 2006 collection The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories.

The song "Hardwick's Lofty Towers" by Sarah McQuaid is from the perspective of Bess. It appears on her 2012 album The Plum Tree and the Rose.