Elizabeth Craven and her Berkeley Ancestors

Elizabeth Craven was born Elizabeth Berkeley in 1750. She was the younger daughter of the Earl of Berkeley whose family, ancient and noble, traced its ancestry back to the Norman Conquest and earlier. They were descended from the Plantagenets and related to most of the other noble families of England.

The Berkeleys owned Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire in the South West of England. It is a very sturdy Norman castle with a vast estate of 6,000 acres but Elizabeth could never inherit it, as such estates almost always passed in the male line. Girls had to be married off or they ended up as impoverished sisters, aunts and dependents.

As a child, Elizabeth stayed at the castle quite often, almost every summer, and would have known this room, the Great Hall, very well. The walls of the castle are hung with portraits of her ancestors.

This brass memorial in a Gloucestershire church depicts Thomas. Lord Berkeley and his wife Margaret in 1392.


These two pictures from the Elizabethan era show Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, and his granddaughter Elizabeth Carey, who married Sir Thomas Berkeley, in 1596. She is one of Elizabeth Craven's ancestors.
Lord Hunsdon held the post of Lord Chamberlain, and was patron of Shakespeare's theatrical company, which is why Shakespeare wrote a play A Midsummer Night's Dream, to celebrate the wedding. Hunsdon was the son of Mary Boleyn, sister of the unfortunate Queen Anne Boleyn, and it is often suggested that his true father was Henry VIII. If so, that was one of many examples of royal blood getting into the Berkeley veins.
     Elizabeth Craven's enthusiam for Shakespeare and drama may have been kindled at an early age by contemplating these pictures and connections.



These stained glass windows in the castle church show the coats of arms of the Berkeleys and their various ancestors.

Elizabeth's grandfather, Vice-Admiral James, 3rd Earl of Berkeley, who led a fleet to defend the realm.



Elizabeth's father, Augustus 4th Earl of Berkeley, who was one of the commanding officers at the Battle of Culloden in 1745.

To find out more read
Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European 
 by Julia Gasper


Hardback | Price: $65 / €62 / £55 1st edition | Published on: June 2017 334pp |  236mmx160mm 
Series: Vernon Series on the History of Art
Subject(s): Feminism, Literary analysis, Biography ISBN: 9781622732753

Availability: Approx. in 4 weeks  Find in a library near youadd to cart





http://www.rotwang.co.uk/main_line.html
http://www.berkeley-castle.com/about.html
http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/14/UK_Berkeley_Castle_Gloucestershire.html
https://www.geni.com/people/Henry-Carey-1st-Baron-Hunsdon/5259940388980072787

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw63932/A-noble-commander-from-South-Gloucester-taken-on-the-Steyne-at-Brighton?LinkID=mp14915&role=sit&rNo=0

https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Augustus%20Berkeley,%204th%20Earl%20of%20Berkeley&item_type=topic

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