Bess of Hardwick's Life in 12 Letters
Alison Wiggins
- The earliest letter from Bess: to her servant Francis Whitfield, 1552
- 'Good Besse': Bess's second husband, Sir William Cavendish, writes to his wife, 1550s
- 'My honest swete chatesworth': Bess's third husband, Sir William St Loe, writes to his wife, c.1560
- 'I haue bene glade to se my lady sayntloa but now more dyssirous to se my lady shrewsbury' (Elizabeth I, 1568): on Bess's fourth husband, George, sixth earl of Shrewsbury
- A copy of a letter from Mary, Queen of Scots, June 1569: Bess between two queens
- Draft and sent versions of a letter from Elizabeth I regarding the earl of Leicester's visit in June 1577: Bess's social networks
- A pair of letters from Padua, 1570s: Bess's geographical networks
- A letter bringing news, 1578/9: Bess's information networks
- An angry letter from the earl of Shrewsbury, 1584: Bess's marriage breakdown
- A letter from Arbella Stuart aged 12-years old in 1587/8: Bess as grandmother
- A letter following the death of the earl in November 1590: Bess as dowager countess of Shrewsbury
- A last letter: Bess's final days at New Hardwick Hall