Elizabeth, Princess Berkeley, sometimes unofficially styled Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach (''née'' Lady Elizabeth Berkeley; —), previously Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven, of Hamstead Marshall, was an author and playwright, perhaps best known for her

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

Life

Elizabeth Berkeley was born in Mayfair, London, the third child of the

Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley, KT (18 February 1715 – 9 January 1755) was the son of Vice-Admiral James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley, and the former Lady Louisa Lennox. Biography He was made an ensign in the ...

and his wife, Elizabeth Drax, daughter of

Henry Drax Henry Drax (c. 1693–1755) of Ellerton Abbey, Yorkshire and Charborough, near Wareham, Dorset was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1718 and 1755. Drax was the eldest son of Thomas Drax (formerly Shatterden) of P ...

and Elizabeth Ernle.

Biography

Her life was full of scandal: on , "much against her will at the age of sixteen," she was married to William Craven, 6th Baron Craven. After thirteen years of marriage, seven children, and affairs reported on both sides, the couple parted permanently in 1780. She had an affair with Charles Greville sometime in late 1783. Thereafter she lived in France and traveled extensively on the Continent. For a number of years she maintained a romantic relationship with Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. During her years at the Ansbach court, Craven formed an

amateur theatre Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

at court, which counted the composer Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt among its members. The wife of Charles Alexander since 1754,

Princess Frederica Caroline of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Princess Frederica Caroline of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess in Saxony () was a princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld by birth and, through marriage, the last Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Bayreuth. Biography Frederica Caroline was the f ...

died in Germany on , and William Craven died in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

on . Craven and Alexander then married in Lisbon on and settled in England. While the Margravine was snubbed by ladies mindful of their reputations, as well as by her new husband's cousin, King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and by Queen

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

when she visited France, the couple lived a full and opulent life in Hammersmith, London, and

Benham Park Benham Park is a mansion (on the site of Benham Valence Manor) in the English ceremonial county of Berkshire and district of West Berkshire. It is west of Newbury within 500m of a junction of the A34 trunk road Newbury by-pass outside the to ...

at Speen in Berkshire. Craven was never legally entitled to share her husband's German rank and title, though on , she was granted the

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

title of "Princess ''(Fürstin)'' Berkeley" by the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II. In fact, Charles Alexander, being the last of his

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, tit ...

of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

, and childless, had exchanged his hereditary

birthright Birthright is the concept of things being due to a person upon or by fact of their birth, or due to the order of their birth. These may include rights of citizenship based on the place where the person was born or the citizenship of their paren ...

to the

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

s of

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...

and Bayreuth for an

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, ...

of 300,000

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...

s from his ''

pater familias The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...

'', King

Frederick William II of Prussia Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...

, a month after his second marriage. In England, however, the couple were usually known as the "Margrave and Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach". After Charles Alexander's death at Benham Park in 1806, Craven moved to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. She died at Craven Villa in

Posillipo Posillipo (; nap, Pusilleco ) is an affluent residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples. From the 1st century BC the Bay of Naples witnessed the rise of villas constructed by elite Roma ...

and was buried in 1828 in the English Cemetery at Naples. Her links with the Hammersmith area are commemorated in the names of two roads in the area – ''Margravine Gardens'' and ''Margravine Road''. There is a wall monument by Roubiliac to her in

St Mary's Church, Scarborough St Mary's Church is a parish church in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in the Church of England. It stands high above the old town, just below Scarborough Castle. History The church was built in the 12th century. It was once a large church with ...

. Her children were: *

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, a Major-general in the Army * Henry Augustus Berkeley (b. 1776), also a Major-general in the Army * Keppel Richard (b. 1779) * Elizabeth, who married John Edward Maddocks * Maria Margaret, who married

William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton William Philip Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton (18 September 1772 – 20 November 1838), also known as Lord Dashalong, was a sportsman, gambler and a friend of the Prince Regent. Personal life Born in 1772, Lord Sefton was the only son of Charles ...

* Georgiana * Arabella, who married General the Hon. Frederick St John

Works

Early in her literary career she wrote a number of light farces,

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s, and

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that illustrat ...

s, some of which were performed in London. She knew Samuel Johnson and

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the English writer ...

, and became a close friend of Horace Walpole, who published her early works.

Publications

* : this is one of the few of Craven's musical compositions to survive. * : Translated from ''Le Somnambule'', a comedy by Antoine de Ferriol de Pont-de-Veyle; Craven also wrote the prologue and epilogue.Craven, Elizabeth
" The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 1168. Accessed 2022-08-27. *: translated from

Giuseppe Parini Giuseppe Parini (23 May 1729 – 15 August 1799) was an Italian enlightenment satirist and poet of the neoclassic period. Biography Parini (originally spelled Parino) was born in Bosisio (later renamed Bosisio Parini in his honour) in Brianza ...

's original Italian * : published anonymously; went into four editions by 1781. * : published anonymously; a new edition came out the following year after the play debuted professionally * : published anonymously * : there was a second edition, and an Irish edition, the same year *: this play was only translated into English in 2018 * * * * * *

Performances

Most of Craven's plays were produced as private theatricals at Brandenburgh House at Fulham. Three of them were produced on the professional stage: *''The Miniature Picture'' ran four nights at Drury Lane beginning Wednesday 24 May 1780. *''The Silver Tankard; or, The Point at Portsmouth'' (with music by Craven, Tommaso Giordani, and Samuel Arnold) began a six-performance run at the Haymarket Theatre on Wednesday 18 July 1781. *''The Princess of Georgia'' played at Covent Garden on Friday 19 April 1799.

Etexts

* *''Modern anecdotes'' (1779)
full text
at Google Books *''The Miniature Picture'' (1780)
full text
at Google Books *''A journey through the Crimea'' (1789)
full text
at HathiTrust
full text
at Google Books *''Memoirs of the Margravine of Anspach'' (1826)
full text
at HathiTrust
full text
at Google Books

Notes

External links

*
Craven, Elizabeth
" The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 1168. Accessed 2022-08-27.
Elizabeth Craven
Covey Author Page.
Elizabeth Craven
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
*
Lady Elizabeth CravenWomen’s Travel Writing, 1780–1840British Travel Writing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craven, Elizabeth 1750 births 1828 deaths Daughters of British earls English baronesses English dramatists and playwrights People from Hammersmith People from Speen, Berkshire People from Westminster British women dramatists and playwrights 18th-century British women writers 18th-century British writers 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers 19th-century British writers British women travel writers English classical composers British women classical composers English opera composers English women singers

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

Margravines of Brandenburg-Ansbach German princesses Morganatic spouses of German royalty British travel writers Women opera composers