Brilliana, Lady Harley (1598 – 29 October 1643), ''née'' Brilliana Conway, was an English letter writer. Her name was coined by her father, Sir Edward Conway, English governor of

Brielle Brielle (), also called Den Briel in Dutch and Brill in English, is a town and historic seaport in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The for ...

(called Brill in English) in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

with the suffix ''-ian'' as a

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

and the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

feminine suffix ''-a''.

Letters

Some of Lady Harley's 375 letters to her husband,

Sir Robert Harley ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

and her son Sir Edward Harley survive and show her to be an educated literary woman, at home in several languages. She was able to keep her husband informed of local political affairs when he was absent from home at Brampton Bryan in northwest

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, attending Parliament or for other reasons, and organised the collection of information locally for the Parliamentary Committee on Scandalous Ministers. She was deeply religious, and her letters frequently repeat religious sentiments and encouraged her family in their chosen

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

practices. The letters also contain passages relating to personal details of their family life.

English Civil War

During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, in the absence of her husband and sons, Lady Harley defended her home, Brampton Bryan Castle, during a three-month

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

troops until the troops withdrew because they were needed at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. She then compelled her tenants to level the Royalist siege earthworks. She also dispatched 40 troops to raid a local Royalist camp at Knighton.

Death

Lady Harley died of pneumonia on 29 October 1643, probably as a result of the hardships endured during the siege. By tradition (with a few gaps) the eldest daughters of Lady Harley's female descendants have given each eldest daughter the middle name of Brilliana.

Bibliography

Lady Brilliana Harley's published correspondence can be found in three volumes: * * *Three letters, two dated August 24 and one August 25, which passed between Lady Harley and Sir J. Scudamore are printed from copies at Welbeck o
pp. 114
115 of the first volume of the report on the Harley papers belonging to the Duke of Portland
Fourteenth Report
Appendix. Part II). The

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

holds many unpublished letters from Lady Harley.

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

The HSL-SHL online journal provides a detailed bibliography of all works pertaining to Brilliana, Lady HarleyBBC Radio 4 UK Broadcast about her on 20 August 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harley, Brilliana 1598 births 1643 deaths Roundheads Writers from Herefordshire Women in the English Civil War Brilliana Deaths from pneumonia in England 17th-century English letter writers English women letter writers 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English writers