Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford 1527-1608

In 1512 [her father] John Hardwick [aged 17] and [her mother] Elizabeth Leeke [aged 15] were married at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire [Map].

In 1524 [her future husband] William Cavendish [aged 19] and Margaret Bostock [aged 16] were married.

Around 1527 Bess of Hardwick was born to John Hardwick [aged 32] and Elizabeth Leeke [aged 30].

On 29th January 1528 [her father] John Hardwick [aged 33] died.

On 28th April 1539 [her future husband] George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 11] and Gertrude Manners Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 14] were married. She the daughter of Thomas Manners 1st Earl of Rutland [aged 47] and Eleanor Paston Countess Rutland [aged 44]. He the son of Francis Talbot 5th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 39] and Mary Dacre. They were fourth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

In 1542 [her future husband] William Cavendish [aged 37] and Elizabeth Parker were married. They had three children, none of which survived to adulthood.

In 1543 Robert Barlow aka Barley [aged 14] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 16] were married.

On 24th December 1544 [her husband] Robert Barlow aka Barley [aged 15] died.

On 20th August 1547 William Cavendish [aged 42] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 20] were married. The difference in their ages was 22 years.

On 18th June 1548 [her daughter] Frances Cavendish was born to [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 43] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 21]. She married before 1584 her sixth cousin Henry Pierrepont and had issue.

Before 1549 [her future husband] William St Lo [aged 30] and Jane Bayntun [aged 25] were married.

In 1549 the Leche family sold Chatsworth House, Derbyshire [Map] to [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 44]. His wife Bess of Hardwick [aged 22] had persuraded him to sell his ancestral lands around Cavendish, Suffolk [Map] and buy land around her ancestral lands.

On 10th June 1549 [her daughter] Temperance Cavendish was born to [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 44] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 22]. She died a year later.

Before 1550 [her step-father] Ralph Leche of Chatsworth [aged 55] and [her mother] Elizabeth Leeke [aged 52] were married.

In 1550 [her daughter] Temperance Cavendish died.

On 17th December 1550 [her son] Henry Cavendish was born to [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 45] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 23]. He married 9th February 1568 his sixth cousin Grace Talbot, daughter of George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and Gertrude Manners Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford.

On 27th December 1552 [her son] William Cavendish 1st Earl Devonshire was born to [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 47] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 25]. He married 1. 21st March 1580 Anne Keighley and had issue 2. after 1603 Elizabeth Boughton Countess Devonshire and had issue.

In 1553 [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 48] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 26] commissioned the building of a new house [Chatsworth House, Derbyshire [Map]]. She selected a site near the river, which was drained by digging a series of reservoirs, which doubled as fish ponds.

On 28th November 1553 [her son] Charles Cavendish was born to [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 48] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 26]. He married before 6th December 1592 Catherine Ogle 8th Baroness Ogle, daughter of Cuthbert Ogle 7th Baron Ogle and Catherine Carnaby Baroness Ogle, and had issue.

On 31st March 1555 [her daughter] Elizabeth Cavendish Countess Lennox was born to [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 50] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 28] at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire [Map]. She married 1574 Charles Stewart 5th Earl Lennox, son of Matthew Stewart 4th Earl Lennox and Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox, and had issue.

Around 1556 [her mother] Elizabeth Leeke [aged 59] died.

In January 1556 [her daughter] Mary Cavendish Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford and Lucrece Cavendish were born to William Cavendish [aged 51] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 29].

On 25th October 1557 [her husband] William Cavendish [aged 52] died.

Around 27th August 1559 William St Lo [aged 41] and Bess of Hardwick [aged 32] were married. They were half third cousin twice removed.

Around March 1561 Bess of Hardwick [aged 34] was poisoned. Both William St Lo [aged 43] and his mother Margaret Kingston believed William's younger brother Edward St Lo [aged 42] to be guility. Edward St Lo feared he would lose his inheritance if William and Bess had a child. William St Lo, probably as a consequence of his brother's actions, 'did of very good will toward [his wife] convey [his lands] unto her'. Edward had previously been suspected of poisoning his first wife's husband John Scutt and, following their marriage, his wife Bridget Malte.

In January 1565 [her husband] William St Lo [aged 47] died suddenly in the company of his brother [her brother-in-law] Edward St Lo [aged 46]. He was buried in St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate. Given that he had been suspected of poisoning William's wife Bess of Hardwick [aged 38] five years before it is possible Edward had poisoned William. Edward St Lo contested his brother's will unsuccessfully.

Around 1567 Bess of Hardwick [aged 40] was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland [aged 33].

On 6th February 1568 Gilbert Talbot 7th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 15] and Mary Cavendish Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 12] were married. She the daughter of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 41]. He the son of George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 40] and Gertrude Manners Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford. They were sixth cousins.

Three days later on Gilbert and Mary would become step-siblings when their father and mother respectively George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and Bess of Hardwick were married. She by marriage Countess of Shrewsbury Countess Waterford. It is likely the latter marriage a condition of the former. He the son of Francis Talbot 5th Earl of Shrewsbury and Mary Dacre. They were fifth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England.

On 9th February 1568 Henry Cavendish [aged 17] and Grace Talbot [aged 18] were married. The marriage, unhappy, produced no issue. She being the daughter of his step-father George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 40]. She the daughter of George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and Gertrude Manners Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford. He the son of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 41]. They were sixth cousins.

On 26th January 1569 Mary Queen of Scots [aged 26] was moved to the custody of [her husband] George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 41] and his wife Bess of Hardwick [aged 42] at Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire [Map].

In 1574 [her son-in-law] Charles Stewart 5th Earl Lennox [aged 16] and Elizabeth Cavendish Countess Lennox [aged 18] were married. She by marriage Countess Lennox. She the daughter of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 47]. He the son of Matthew Stewart 4th Earl Lennox and Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox [aged 58].

Around 21st March 1580 William Cavendish 1st Earl Devonshire [aged 27] and Anne Keighley [aged 17] were married. He the son of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 53].

On 21st January 1582 [her daughter] Elizabeth Cavendish Countess Lennox [aged 26] died.

In 1583 [her step-son] Edward Talbot 8th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 21] and Joane Ogle Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 17] were married. She by marriage Countess of Shrewsbury Countess Waterford. He the son of [her husband] George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 55] and Gertrude Manners Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford. They were fourth cousin once removed. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward IV of England.

Before 1584 [her son-in-law] Henry Pierrepont [aged 37] and Frances Cavendish [aged 35] were married. She the daughter of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 56]. They were sixth cousins.

On 18th November 1590 [her husband] George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 62] died. He was buried at Sheffield Cathedral [Map]. His son [her son-in-law] Gilbert [aged 37] succeeded 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, 7th Earl Waterford, 12th Baron Furnivall, 16th Baron Strange Blackmere, 13th Baron Talbot. [her daughter] Mary Cavendish Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 34] by marriage Countess of Shrewsbury Countess Waterford.

1592. Rowland Lockey [aged 27]. Portrait of Bess of Hardwick [aged 65].

Before 6th December 1592 Charles Cavendish [aged 39] and Catherine Ogle 8th Baroness Ogle [aged 22] were married. He the son of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 65].

After 1603 William Cavendish 1st Earl Devonshire [aged 50] and Elizabeth Boughton Countess Devonshire [aged 35] were married. He the son of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 76].

On 19th March 1616 [her son-in-law] Henry Pierrepont [aged 70] died. Church of St Edmund, Holme Pierrepoint [Map]. Designed by John Smythson. Probably carved by Hugh Hall who also carved the monument to Thomas Smith originally at Wybynbury but since moved to Nantwich [Map]. Elizabethan Period. Armorials:

Top left Cavendish Arms - he was married to Frances Cavendish [aged 67] daughter of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick.

Top right Pierrepoint Arms.

Centre Bottom: Quartered 1&4 Pierrepoint Arms 2&3 Unknown Arms impaled Quartered 1&4 Cavendish Arms 2&3 Unknown Arms.

Frances Cavendish: On 18th June 1548 she was born to William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick. Before 1584 Henry Pierrepont and she were married. She the daughter of William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford. They were sixth cousins. In January 1632 she died.