Lady Elizabeth Southwell (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Cromwell), called Lady Cromwell (1674–1709) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
noblewoman, the only daughter of
Vere Essex Cromwell, 4th Earl of Ardglass
Vere Essex Cromwell, 4th Earl of Ardglass PC (I), (2 October 1625 – 26 November 1687) was an English nobleman, son of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Ardglass and Elizabeth Meverell.
Life
Vere Essex Cromwell was born at Throwleigh, Staffordsh ...
and wife Catherine Hamilton.
Title
When her father died in 1687, she claimed his title of
Baron Cromwell
Baron Cromwell is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, which was by writ, was for John de Cromwell in 1308. On his death, the barony became extinct. The second creation came in 1375 when Ralph ...
, although his Earldom and Viscountship became extinct; she was ranked with the Peeresses at the funeral of Queen
Mary II
Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.
Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...
and the coronation of Queen
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, but her claim appears to have been a mistake.
Whether she was entitled to succeed her father depends on how the barony was created. A
barony by writ
The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsidi ...
descends to an only daughter, if a baron have no sons; a
barony by patent follows the rule of descent given in the patent - normally to the male heirs of the grantee, which would exclude daughters.
The Barony of Cromwell has a patent, granted in 1540 to
Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell
Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, KB ( – 4 July 1551) was an English nobleman. He was the only son of the Tudor statesman Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex ( – 1540) and Elizabeth Wyckes (d. 1529).
Gregory's father Thomas Cromwell ros ...
of Oakham (and his heirs male), son of Henry VIII's Minister
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
, after his father's fall and execution. But the antiquarian
William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.
Life
Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coleshi ...
had claimed in the 1670s that there was also a writ summoning Gregory Cromwell as Baron Cromwell, dated 28 April 1539. Although he gives a text of the writ, the form is not standard, and no writs at all are recorded as being issued on that day - the first day of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, and so rather late to summon men to attend it; the
Complete Peerage
''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition revis ...
conjectures that Dugdale saw a reference to Lord Cromwell in the proceedings of the Parliament, deduced that it meant the son - not the father - and supplied the writ he assumed must exist. Gregory Cromwell was, however, elected as one of the
Knights of the Shire
Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution ...
for
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in 1539, and was summoned to Parliament that year to sit in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
.
Courtship, Marriage, and Issue
In 1703, Cromwell was courted by Anglo-Virginian planter
William Byrd II
William Byrd II (March 28, 1674August 26, 1744) was an American planter, lawyer, surveyor, author, and a man of letters. Born in Colonial Virginia, he was educated in London, where he practiced law. Upon his father's death, he returned to Virgi ...
. While she travelled to Dublin with
Edward Southwell Edward Southwell may refer to:
* Edward Southwell, 20th Baron de Clifford (1738–1777), British politician
* Edward Southwell Sr. (1671–1730), Irish politician
* Edward Southwell Jr. (1705–1755), Irish politician
{{hndis, Southwell, Edward ...
, the Secretary of State for Ireland, Byrd wrote a series of letters addressing Cromwell as 'Facetia' and himself as 'Veramour'. Byrd and Southwell were close friends at the time. Southwell's father,
Sir Robert Southwell
Sir Robert Southwell PRS (31 December 1635 – 11 September 1702) was a diplomat. He was Secretary of State for Ireland and President of the Royal Society from 1690.
Background and education
Robert Southwell was born near Kinsale in County ...
, had secured Byrd's entry into the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
before dying in 1702. Cromwell's replies do not survive, but Byrd's outgoing letters (preserved and published by Marion Tinling) show how he grew irritated as she stopped replying to his persistent and melodramatic letters. Byrd grew angry, lashing out at Cromwell's 'hibernian amuzement' and 'laziness', sabotaging any hopes of a successful courtship.
On 29 October 1704, Cromwell married Edward Southwell in Ireland. Their son,
Edward Southwell Edward Southwell may refer to:
* Edward Southwell, 20th Baron de Clifford (1738–1777), British politician
* Edward Southwell Sr. (1671–1730), Irish politician
* Edward Southwell Jr. (1705–1755), Irish politician
{{hndis, Southwell, Edward ...
, did not style himself Baron Cromwell of Oakham. Cromwell's grandson inherited the much older and more distinguished
Barony of Clifford as the title's 20th holder.
Death
Elizabeth died of
consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
on 31 March 1709 and was buried at
Henbury
Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately north west of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle Estate, Blaise Ha ...
. In a letter to
Lord Raby, on 1 April 1709, Lady Wentworth wrote that "Your old Mrs. is dead and left thre lovly boys behynde and a dismall mallancolly husband ; its Lady Betty Southwell whoe made a very good wife, and he a fond husband."
References
Bibliography
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External links
Cracroft's Peerage, Ardglass, Earl of (I, 1645 - 1687)*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwell, Elizabeth
1674 births
1709 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Cromwell family
Daughters of Irish earls
17th-century English women
17th-century English people