Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury

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Born Mary Cavendish, she was the daughter of Sir William Cavendish, who died when she was about a year old, and his wife Bess of Hardwick. By all accounts, Mary inherited her mother's strong will and colourful character. Bess of Hardwick remarried to Sir William St. Loe, who left his wife everything when he died in 1564/5, making her one of the most eligible women in England. A number of important men began to court her, including George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury.

From The Living Age:[1]




Their children were:


Although her family was Protestant, Mary converted to Catholicism as an adult. This may have been one of the reasons why she gave financial assistance to her niece Arbella Stuart in 1610, with the knowledge that the latter was planning to elope to the Continent. For this she was imprisoned in the Tower of London. She was tried for her role in the escape, and was heavily fined, but not released. Later, Arbella accused Mary of being involved in a Catholic plot. Arbella's biographer remarks that Mary's motives in aiding Arbella are very difficult to understand: even allowing that Mary was a Catholic, and fond of her niece, she was certainly intelligent enough to understand the consequences for herself.[2] Perhaps she relied on her husband's influence to save her from the Tower, and like her mother she was one of the few women of the time who was used to getting her own way.[3]


In 1615, after Arbella's death, Mary was released from the Tower, partly in recognition of her role in detecting the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and partly because her husband was very ill.[5] However, a few years later, in 1618, she was called to give evidence in the course of an inquiry into the rumors that Arbella had secretly given birth to a child. Mary refused to testify, saying she had sworn a binding oath not to, and was returned to the Tower, where she remained until 1623, occupying the best lodgings.[6] Mary was not easily intimidated: Dorothy Sayers described her as "undaunted by the Tower, and contempuously silent before the Privy Council". Francis Bacon is said to have remarked that while Shrewsbury was no doubt a great man, there was one greater than he, his wife.

In fiction[edit]



  1. ^ Littell, The Living Age, 1891, page 374.
  2. ^ Durant, David N. Arbella Stuart-a Rival to the Queen Weidenfeld and Nicholson London 1978 p.200
  3. ^ Durant p.200
  4. ^ Durant p.207
  5. ^ Durant p.209
  6. ^ Durant p.209