Elizabeth Craven and her Drax Ancestors
Elizabeth Craven's mother was Elizabeth Drax, who came from an old, noble family that owned Ellerton Abbey in Yorkshire and Charborough Park in Dorset. Before her marriage she was one of the ladies in waiting to Augusta, Princess of Wales, mother George III, and she and her sister were considered beauties. The household of the Prince and Princess of Wales was an excellent place to meet the most eligible men, and in 1744 she married the 4th Earl of Berkeley. Here she is painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1759. The painting looks as if it was done in winter time, as it shows her swathed in fur and with a silky shawl draped over her bosom. Lady Berkeley was no more renowned for virtue than her daughter Elizabeth Craven. Her second husband, Robert Craggs-Nugent separated from her on grounds of infidelity. Many of her children, not only Elizabeth, led rather wild lives. As a matter of fact, so prior to his marriage did the 4th Earl o...