Bess of Hardwick: Countess of Shrewsbury

Bess of Hardwick rose from obscurity to be one of the richest women in England and a friend of Elizabeth I. Her story is one of determination, grit, ambition and clever management. Born a poor gentleman farmer’s daughter, she died a countess and grandmother to a possible heir to the throne. Bess married four times, and was sincerely attached to all her husbands, although her final marriage disintegrated under unbearable pressures. Like most Tudor women, Bess never left England, but she travelled regularly between her native Derbyshire and London, and to the estates of her third husband in Somerset, as well as with the court. Many of her journeys related to supervision of her magnificent constructions at Chatsworth and Hardwick. A clever and practical woman, she used the law to protect herself and her family and to build a huge inheritance for the dynasty she founded. She amassed a vast fortune and her descendants have held high positions in English society for 400 years.