Elizabeth Cavendish, Countess of Lennox

Elizabeth Cavendish, Countess of Lennox (31 March 1555 – January 1582) was the wife of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox. She was the mother of Arbella Stuart, a close claimant to the English and Scottish thrones.

Elizabeth was born in Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, England on 31 March 1555, the daughter of Bess of Hardwick and her second husband Sir William Cavendish. Catherine Grey was one of her godmothers.[1] Bess was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I and was one of the wealthiest women in England.[2] She would have a total of four husbands. Elizabeth had seven siblings, two of whom died in early infancy.

In 1574 she was secretly married to Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox, the younger brother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and thus a claimant to the English throne. Both sets of parents incurred the wrath of Queen Elizabeth I for having arranged such a controversial marriage without her permission, and Elizabeth's mother and mother-in-law, Margaret Douglas, were both sent to the Tower of London.[3]

The following year 1575, Elizabeth gave birth to her only child, Arbella Stuart. Her husband died in 1576 of consumption.[4] Elizabeth herself died six years later in January 1582 at the age of twenty-six.[4][5] Her daughter Arbella, about seven years old at the time became the ward of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. In 1611, Arbella was imprisoned in the Tower of London by King James I of England for having married William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, another close claimant to the throne, without royal permission. Arbella died there on 25 September 1615. She did not have any children.

References

• 1.^ Lovell, Mary S. (2005). Bess of Hardwick, First Lady of Chatsworth. Little, Brown. p. 92.
• 2.^ Fraser, pp.474-475
• 3.^ Antonia Fraser, Mary, Queen of Scots, pp.534-535
• 4.^ a b Fraser, p.535
• 5.^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Scotland
• Antonia Fraser, Mary, Queen of Scots, Dell Publishing Co., Inc. New York, March 1971
• From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Stuart,_Countess_of_Lennox
• __________________
• 'Elizabeth Cavendish1,2,3
• 'F
• Father Sir William Cavendish, Burgess of Thirsk1,2,4 b. c 1505, d. 25 Oct 1557
• Mother Elizabeth Hardwicke1,5,6,2,4 b. c 1527, d. 13 Feb 1608
• ' Elizabeth Cavendish married Charles Stuart, 15th Earl of Lennox, son of Matthew Stuart, 13th (4th) Earl of Lennox, Lord Darnley and Margaret Douglas, before 22 December 1574; They had 1 daughter (Arabella, wife of Sir Wililam Seymour, Duke of Somerset).7,2,3,8
• 'Family Charles Stuart, 15th Earl of Lennox b. c 1555, d. 1576
• Child
  • ◦Arabella Stuart8 b. c 1577, d. 25 Sep 1615
• Citations
• 1.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. VII, p. 601.
• 2.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 379.
• 3.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 364.
• 4.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 362-363.
• 5.[S11572] The Lineage and Ancestry of H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, by Gerald Paget, Vol. II, p. 89.
• 6.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. XI, p. 713.
• 7.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. VII, p. 600-601.
• 8.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 594.
• From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1150.htm#...
• ________________
• 'Elizabeth Cavendish1
• 'F, #102076, b. 1555, d. 21 January 1582
• Last Edited=31 Oct 2007
• ' Elizabeth Cavendish was born in 1555.2 She was the daughter of Rt. Hon. Sir William Cavendish and Elizabeth Hardwicke.1 She married Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Lennox, son of Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Lady Margaret Douglas, in 1574.1 She died on 21 January 1582 at Sheffield Castle, Sheffield, Yorkshire, West Riding, England.
• ' From 1574, her married name became Stuart.1
• 'Child of Elizabeth Cavendish and Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Lennox
  • 1.Lady Arabella Stuart1 b. 1575, d. 25 Sep 1615
• Citations
• 1.[S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 1127. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
• 2.[S97] Mary S. Lovell, Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder (New York, U.S.A.: W. W. Norton, 2006). Hereinafter cited as Bess of Hardwick.
• From: http://thepeerage.com/p10208.htm#i102076
• _______________
• 'Elizabeth CAVENDISH (C. Lennox)
• 'Born: 31 Mar 1555
• 'Died: ABT 21 Jan 1582, Sheffield Castle
• 'Notes: goddaughter of Elizabeth Brooke, Lady Northampton and Lady Catherine Grey. She was an attractive girl with whom Sir Christopher Hatton was said to be in love. Her mother tried to arrange a marriage for her with Peregrine Bertie, but in 1574 she found a more prestigious match. In the autumn of that year, Margaret Douglas, countess of Lennox, and her son Charles Stuart, E. of Lennox, were en route to Settringham. On 9 Oct they stopped for a few days with the Duchess of Suffolk at Huntingdon. Elizabeth’s mother, better known as Bess of Hardwick and by that time married to the Earl of Shrewsbury, was at nearby Rufford. She met them between Huntingdon and Sheffield and invited them to stop for the night with her. According to some accounts, this meeting had been pre-arranged for the purpose of establishing contact between Margaret and her imprisoned daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots, who was in the keeping of Shrewsbury. At Rufford, Lady Lennox took to her bed, claiming to be ill, and remained there, with Lady Shrewsbury for company, for the next five days. During that time the two young people were left to their own devices and Charles so “entangled himself” with Elizabeth Cavendish that they had to be secretly married in early Nov. On 17 Nov, both mothers and newlyweds were ordered to London by the Queen. The blame seems to have fallen entirely on the two countesses, but by Mar both had been acquitted of “large treasons”. The cause of the Queen’s alarm was Charles Stuart’s claim to her throne, which he would pass on to any children he and Elizabeth produced. Their daughter, Arabella Stuart, was born at Chatsworth the following Sep. Sadly, Charles Stuart died when his daughter was only two and Elizabeth died when Arabella was six.
• Father: William CAVENDISH of Chatsworth (Sir)
• Mother: Elizabeth De HARDWICK (C. Shrewsbury)
• 'Married: Charles STUART (5° E. Lennox) 1574
• Children:
  • 1. Arabella STUART
• From: http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/CAVENDISH.htm#Elizabeth CAVENDISH (C. Lennox)
• _____________________