Elizabeth Berkeley, Countess Berkeley (c.1720 – 29 June 1792), formerly Elizabeth Drax, was a British court official, the wife of

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 1 ...

. She was the daughter of Henry Drax and his wife, the former Elizabeth Ernle. She married the earl on 7 May 1744. Their children were: *

Frederick Augustus Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley Frederick Augustus Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley (24 May 1745 – 8 August 1810) was a British peer. Origins and education Berkeley was the eldest son and heir of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley by Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Drax, of ...

(1745-1810) * Lady Georgiana Augusta Berkeley (1749-1820), who married George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard, and had children * Lady Elizabeth Berkeley (1750-1828), a writer, whose first husband was

William Craven, 6th Baron Craven William Craven, 6th Baron Craven (11 September 1738 – 26 September 1791) was an English nobleman and a landowner. Early life He was the son of Rev. John Craven, Vicar of Stanton Lacy, Shropshire (1708-1752), and his wife, Mary Rebecca Hic ...

, from whom she became estranged in 1780. Following his death, she married her lover,

Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach Christian Friedrich Carl Alexander (german: Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander; 24 February 1736 – 5 January 1806) was the last margrave of the two Franconian principalities, Bayreuth and Ansbach, which he sold to the King of Prussia, a fell ...

. *Admiral Hon. Sir

George Cranfield Berkeley Admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley GCB (10 August 1753 – 25 February 1818) was a British Royal Navy officer. An admiral, he was highly popular yet controversial in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain. Serving on several ...

(1753-1818), who married Emilia Charlotte Lennox and had children From 1745 to 1772, she held the position of

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. They are ranked between the Mist ...

to the Princess of Wales (The Dowager Princess of Wales from 1751), Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Following the earl's death in 1755, the countess remarried. Her second husband was

Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent Robert Craggs-Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent PC (1709 – 13 October 1788) was an Irish politician and poet. He was tersely described by Richard Glover as a jovial and voluptuous Irishman who had left popery for the Protestant religion, money and ...

, whom she married on 2 January 1757. They had two children: *Mary Elizabeth Nugent, 1st Baroness Nugent (1758-1812), who married

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Pres ...

, and had children *Lady Louisa Nugent (1758-1841), who married Admiral Sir

Eliab Harvey Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey (5 December 1758 – 20 February 1830) was an eccentric and hot-tempered officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars who was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as ...

and had children The countess had her portrait painted in 1759 by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Following her death, she was buried with her first husband in

Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a market town and parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway. The town is noted for Berkeley Castle, where the imprison ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Elizabeth, Countess Berkeley 1720s births 1792 deaths 18th-century English nobility 18th-century English women English countesses Nugent Ladies of the Bedchamber Nugent family Household of Augusta of Saxe-Gotha