“ SHREWSBURY, ELIZABETH TALBOT, Countess of (1518–1608) , better known by her nickname “Bess of Hardwick,” was the daughter and co-heiress of John Hardwicke of Hardwicke in Derbyshire. At the age of fourteen she was married to a John Barlow, the owner of a large estate, who did not long survive the marriage, and as his estates had been settled on her and her heirs, she became a wealthy widow. She remained single till the 20th of August 1549, when she married Sir William Cavendish, who, to please her, sold his lands in the south of England and purchased the Chatsworth estates in Derbyshire. ”

“ In 1583 the countess of Shrewsbury went to live apart from her husband, with whom she was afterwards reconciled formally by the queen. After his death in 1590 she lived mostly at Hardwicke, where she built the noble mansion which still stands. She was indeed one of the greatest builders of her time at Hardwicke, Chatsworth and Oldcoates. It is said that she believed she would not die so long as she was building. ”

“ She still retained much of her good looks; her charms and her wealth outweighed her reputation for rapacity, and she was much sought in marriage. With the approval of Queen Elizabeth, who was not by habit a matchmaker, she was married in 1568 for the fourth time to George Talbot, 6th earl of Shrewsbury. ”