Elizabeth Craven, Aphra Behn and the scandal of Lady Harriet Berkeley
The Berkeley family was always notorious for scandal and wild escapades. Elizabeth Craven's elder sister eloped when very young, and one of her aunts had done the same. The most scandalous episode in the family history took place in 1682 during the Restoration period, when Lady Henrietta Berkeley, daughter of the first Earl of Berkeley, ran away with her sister's husband, Lord Grey. He was prosecuted for abduction by Lord Berkeley, despite the fact that Henrietta had consented to the flight. Lady Henrietta (Harriett) Berkeley From an original picture by Sir Godfrey Kneller, at Strawberry Hill. This scandal left its mark on the literature of the period, as Aphra Behn borrowed elements of the story for her sensational novel, Love Letters from a Nobleman to his Sister. Ford, Lord Grey of Warke, w as a bold, irrepressible rake, mixed up in more than one risky enterprise. He took a leading part in the Monmouth Rebellion, and wherever...