The Death and Funeral of "Bess of Hardwick" - 1608
- thedudleywomen
- May 4
- 9 min read
At the time of her death in February 1608, Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, best known by her sobriquet "Bess of Hardwick", was one of the richest and powerful women in England, her fortunes having significantly risen throughout her lifetime. These had come partly as a result of her advantageous marriages, but also due to Bess's personal attributes - her intelligence, resourcefulness, ambition, tenacity and determination. Whilst her strong personality traits led to fractious relationships between family members, including spouses, children and grandchildren, Bess's ability to manage her own financial affairs, estates and business, cemented her family's continued rise in Tudor society, and the establishment and sucess of multiple businesses, including coal mining and glass-making (Lovell, 2006; Hattersley, 2013).
Bess's lasting legacy continues to be the building projects that she commissioned and oversaw throughout her life, most prominently at Chatsworth and Hardwick, Derbyshire. She was popular with her male contemporaries who shared her interest in architecture and design, and held similar building ambitions, including Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Sir John Thynne and Sir William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (Hubbard, 2018; Folgerpedia, 2025).
Bess's fourth and final marriage to George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, whilst significantly elevating her social standing, was not a content one, the pair coming into repeated conflict on multiple issues, including Bess's ongoing building work at Chatsworth, as well as Shrewsbury's fifteen-year role as custodian of the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots. The increasingly-estranged couple finally separated in 1584, with Bess leaving Chatsworth for her childhood home of Hardwick, which she had purchased the previous year from her brother James, beginning her first building project, transforming the dilapidated manor home into 'Old Hardwick Hall' (English Heritage, 2024; Folgerpedia, 2025).
In 1587, Chatsworth was legally awarded to Bess, along with a generous income from her estranged husband, and on Shrewsbury's death in 1590, Bess found herself richer still. Using this new fortune, and with her ongoing "insatiable enthusiasm for building" she set about on another ambitious building project - the building of an "architecturally thrilling" grand house - Hardwick New Hall - yards from the Old Hall. Completed in 1599, this was to be Bess's primary residence for her final years, and at time shared with multiple family members, including her second and favoured son, William Cavendish, Baron Cavendish of Hardwick, and granddaughter Arbella Stuart (Hubbard, 2018; English Heritage, 2024; History Today, 2026).
Bess had made her detailed will on 27 April 1601, in which set out her wishes for her burial after death. As the second richest woman in England, only after the queen at the time of her will, Bess made multiple and generous provisions to her family members, although intentionally disinherited two of her children, Charles and Mary due to "unkindness offered me". Ever the astute businesswoman, Bess also made a detailed inventory of the furniture and furnishings contained in each of the rooms of her grand Derbyshire properties of Chatsworth and Hardwick, all of which were later bequeathed to her son William, whom she had made her 'heir' and sole executor (Lovell, 2006; Chatsworth, 2026; The National Archives, 2026).
At the time of the Elizabeth I's death in 1603, the elder countess's health had also started to deteriorate, with Bess beginning to suffer from pain and restricted movement in her knees due to arthritis, likely exacerbated by damp conditions of her beloved Hardwick. In her later years, she was known to have mobilised using a stick, and the furnishings at New Hardwick Hall were designed with the intention of protecting her against the cold Derbyshire winters, including woollen blankets and quilts (Hubbard, 2018; Bess of Hardwick's Letters, 2026). Despite this, her mental faculties remained intact, with Bess continuing in her pursuits of business - money lending, expanding her estate and bringing about legal suits - with Hubbard (2018) describing her "energy for feuding...[being] undiminished". These strong personality traits, including her tenacity relating to business matters, appeared to continue until the end of her life, with the use of multiple secretaries and scribes, despite her repeated episodes of ill health.
In the early months of 1605, Bess was said to have fallen "very ill'', as Arbella Stuart sought permission from King James I to leave court to visit her estranged grandmother in Derbyshire. This visit was encouraged by the king, who himself wrote to Bess, encouraging a reconciliation; whilst Bess welcomed her granddaughter, she did so with an air of suspicion and 'cynicism'. Bess fell ill once again, in the early months of 1606, being confined to her room at Hardwick for many weeks, but once again appeared to recover (Lovell, 2006).
Bess's final illness and death came in the winter of 1608, one of the coldest for many years, known as The Great Frost. Contemporary sources in London wrote how temperatures had suddenly fallen shortly before Christmas 1607, and by January 1608, the Thames had been frozen solid, with the inclement weather spreading throughout the country (Lovell, 2006). A description is given by Virginia Woolf, in her 1928 novel Orlando: A Biography (pp.33-34):
"The Great Frost was, historians tell us, the most severe that has ever visited these islands. Birds froze in mid-air and fell like stones to the ground. At Norwich a young countrywoman started to cross the road in her usual robust health and was seen by the onlookers to turn visibly to powder and be blown in a puff of dust over the roofs as the icy blast struck her at the street corner. The mortality among sheep and cattle was enormous. Corpses froze and could not be drawn from the sheets. It was no uncommon sight to come upon a whole herd of swine frozen immovable upon the road...The severity of the frost was so extraordinary that a kind of petrifaction sometimes ensued; and it was commonly supposed that the great increase of rocks in some parts of Derbyshire was due to no eruption, for there was none, but to the solidification of unfortunate wayfarers who had been turned literally to stone where they stood".
On 27 December 1607, Bess was reported by her daughter-in-law Grace Cavendish to be "ill" and "in some danger". On 31 January, her daughter Mary Cavendish, Countess of Shrewsbury, to whom she had been recently reconciled, sent her a New Year's Eve gift of a cushion, to be used in prayer to protect her painful knees. The messenger who took the gift informed Mary that Bess "looked pretty well and spoke heartly" although Bess herself wrote that she was in "worse health" than when seen by her daughter when she had visited a fortnight prior, although her stepson, Mary's husband Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, later commented that they had found Bess to have been "old and frail" during their visit. However, as Talbot reflected Bess maintained her mental faculties, describing his visit to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, in that he “found a lady of great years, of great wealth and a great wit, which yet still remains”. The following day, 01 January 1608, the weakened Bess had taken to her bed (Lovell, 2006; Hubbard, 2018; Bess of Hardwick's Letters, 2026).
Bess was suffering with a sore throat and bronchial issues, which likely developed into pneumonia. She also experienced abdominal pain, with the two ladies who attended to her, Mary Cartwright and Elizabeth Digby said to have "held her stomach" in an attempt to relieve the pain and discomfort. Dr Hunton of nearby Shffield, her personal physician of over ten years, was summoned, and he used a variety of treatments in an attempt to treat her ailments, including use of treacles to sooth her throat and cough, and hot compresses to induce sweating. By 02 February, Dr Hunton had moved into Hardwick, in order to provide constant care for the ailing Dowager Countess in her final days, later receiving 40 marks (£13 6s.) for his services (Lovell, 2006; Hubbard, 2018).
On 31 January, Bess managed to get herself out of bed and seated herself in a chair in her chamber, from where she sent for her son William, who had been in London with the royal court. She described herself as "extreme sick at heart" and believed that she had "no hope of life". Her priority was ensuring the continunation of her legacy, and she felt that it was William, rather than her eldest son Henry, whom she had earlier described as "my bad son Henry", who would be the one to do this. The following day, 01 February, Bess ordered that changes be made to her 1601 will, making small bequests to her previously excluded children Mary and Charles, as well as to the ladies who were attending her (Lovell, 2006; Hubbard, 2018). In her final days, Bess appeared to experience episodes of delirium, likely due to the ongoing respiratory infection she was suffering from. She presented as confused and disorientated at times, as well as expressing paranoid ideation, believing that the well at Hardwick had been poisoned, and that the broth she had been fed had been made with that water (Lovell, 2006).
On 13 February 1608, it became clear that the end was near, and so Bess's three favoured children - William, Charles and Mary - were summoned to and gathered at Hardwick. Waiting in a withdrawing room outside of their mother's chamber, Mary was called to Bess's bedside in the late afternoon; this act reportedly agitated William, who was fearful that last minute changes would be made to their mother's will, but no additional changes were made, with Bess dying at 5 o'clock that evening. Mary's husband Gilbert later described Bess as “the old lady [that] had that great blessing of sense and memory, even to the end” (Lovell, 2006).
Following her death, Bess's corpse was drained of blood, disembowelled and embalmed, being wrapped in cere cloth (waxed linen cloth), and placed in a leaden coffin, that was draped in black velvet. Her body lay in state at Hardwick for over two months, whilst arrangements for her funeral and memorial services were formalised. Arbella Stuart, having left Hardwick in 1603, returned to her former 'prison', where she was said to have spent time alone with her grandmother's coffin (Lovell, 2006; Hubbard, 2018).
On 01 March 1608, a memorial service, organised by her favoured son William, was held for Bess at Derby. The perceived slow-response in organising her burial and executing her will, caused discontent and frustration with his siblings. Eventually, William announced that his mother's funeral and committal would be held on 04 May (Lovell, 2006).
In her 1601 will, Bess had requested that her funeral “be not over sumptuous or otherwise performed with too much vain and idle charges". However, in contrast to this statement, she put aside a grand sum of £5,102, in order to cover cash legacies and funeral expenses. Her funeral took place at All Saints Church, Derby (also known as 'All Hallows', and now Derby Cathedral), which had been dressed in black cloth and likely banners displaying heraldic arms. Her chief mourner was her daughter Mary, who significantly mourned her mother's death, her grief and distress coming as a surprise to her family members, including her husband and daughter. The funeral service was preached by Tobie Matthew, Archbishop of York, following which a sumptuous funeral feast was held, costing in excess of £3,200 (Lovell, 2006; Hubbard, 2018; The National Archives, 2026).
Comments