Bess of Hardwick

An Elizabethan Tycoon

Wyn Derbyshire

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English

Spiramus Press
06 September 2022

Biography: general; Biography: historical, political & military; History; British & Irish history

Bess of Hardwick was one of the most remarkable people who lived in England in the late Tudor period. Born a daughter of a relatively humble Midlands family, she was married and widowed four times, on each occasion raising her social status until she ultimately became the Countess of Shrewsbury.

An enthusiast of fine buildings, she left behind Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House as prime examples of Elizabethan prodigy houses. She also left important genetic legacies in the form of her descendants, and is an ancestress of much of the British aristocracy for the last few hundred years.

Whilst she lived at a time when the laws and customs of the land made it difficult for women to exercise any real form of economic or social independence, Bess succeeded in acquiring a personal fortune which not only made her the second wealthiest woman in the kingdom after Queen Elizabeth herself, but for generations after her served as the financial bedrock upon which her descendants would continue to build, in some cases right up to the present day.

By: Wyn Derbyshire
Imprint: Spiramus Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781910151051
ISBN 10: 191015105X
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 06 September 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Wyn Derbyshire originally trained as a research chemist, gaining a PhD from the University of Cambridge before qualifying as a lawyer. He has for many years been interested in financial history. He is writing a series of biographies of tycoons for Spiramus Press.