Elizabeth, Princess Berkeley

{{Infobox writer

| name = Elizabeth

| image = Elizabeth (Berkeley), Margravine of Anspach by Ozias Humphry.jpg

| caption = Elizabeth, Lady Craven, later Princess Berkeley, {{circa|1780–1783}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1750|12|17|df=y}}

| birth_place = Mayfair, London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|1828|1|13|1750|12|17|df=y}}

| death_place = Posilipo, Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

| occupation = Writer

| period = 1778–1826

| subject = {{hlist|Travel writing|drama|memoirs}}

| notableworks =

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

{{marriage|William Craven, 6th Baron Craven|1767|1791|end=d}}
{{marriage|Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|1791|1806|end=d}}}}

| children = 7, including William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven

| relatives = {{ubl|Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley (father)|Elizabeth Drax (mother)}}

| birth_name = Elizabeth Berkeley

| honorific_suffix = Princess Berkeley

}}

Elizabeth, Princess Berkeley (born Lady Elizabeth Berkeley; 17 December 1750 – 13 January 1828), sometimes unofficially styled Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, previously Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven of Hamstead Marshall, was an author and playwright, perhaps best known for her travelogues.

Biography

=Early life=

File:View of the Margravine of Anspach's Brandenburgh House, published May 1, 1809, by Verner, Hood and Sharpe and W. Cooke. Drawn by S. Owen, engraved by W. Cooke.jpg, published May 1, 1809, drawn by S. Owen, engraved by W. Cooke.]]

Elizabeth Berkeley was born in Mayfair, London, the fifth child of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Drax and Elizabeth Ernle. She was the second child in the family to survive infancy.{{Citation |last=Turner |first=Katherine |title=Elizabeth [née Lady Elizabeth Berkeley], margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth [other married name Elizabeth Craven, Lady Craven] (1750–1828), travel writer, playwright, and society hostess |date=2004-09-23 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-576 |access-date=2025-02-13 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/576 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|url-access=subscription }}

= Marriages and later life =

Her life was full of scandal: on 30 May 1767, "much against her will at the age of sixteen",{{cite book |last=Gasper |first=Julia |date=2018 |editor-last=Gasper |editor-first=Julia |title=The Modern Philosopher, Letters to Her Son and Verses on the Siege of Gibraltar, by Elizabeth Craven |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |page=2 |chapter=Introduction |isbn= |name-list-style=amp}} 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.{{Cite book |last1=Huberty |first1=Michel |title=L'Allemagne Dynastique |last2=Giraud |first2=Alain |last3=Magdelaine |first3=F. |last4=Magdelaine |first4=B. |year=1988 |isbn=2-901138-05-5 |volume=5 |publisher=A. Giraud |language=fr |trans-title=Dynastic Germany}}{{rp|page=148}} She had an affair with Charles Francis Greville sometime in late 1783.{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Kate |title=England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton |date=2009 |publisher=BBC Audiobooks Ltd by arr. with Random House |isbn=9781408430781 |edition=Large Print |page=164}}

Thereafter she lived in France and traveled extensively on the Continent. She lost contact with her eldest six children, but her seventh child,Richard Keppel Craven, who was four, lived with her.

For a number of years she maintained a romantic relationship with Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. During her years at the Ansbach court, Lady Craven formed an amateur theatre at court, which counted the composer Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt among its members.{{Cite web |date=1990 |editor-last=Bistrup |editor-first=Annelise |title=Maria Theresia Ahlefeldt (1755 - 1810) |url=https://www.kvinfo.dk/side/170/bio/277/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220404084132/https://www.kvinfo.dk/side/170/bio/277/ |archive-date=2022-04-04 |access-date=2022-04-04 |website=kvinfo.dk |language=da}} Princess Frederica Caroline of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the Margrave's wife since 1754, died on 18 February 1791, and Lord Craven died in Lausanne on 26 September 1791. Lady Craven and the Margrave then married in Lisbon on 30 October 1791 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, and by Queen Marie Antoinette when she visited France, the couple lived a full and opulent life in Hammersmith, London, and at Benham Park, Berkshire.

Lady Craven was never legally entitled to share her husband's German rank and title, though on 20 February 1801, she was granted the morganatic title of "Princess (Fürstin) Berkeley" by the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II.{{r|name="DG"|pages=135,183}} In fact, Alexander, being the last of his cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern, and childless, had exchanged his hereditary birthright to the appanages of Ansbach and Bayreuth for an annuity of 300,000 guilders from his pater familias, King Frederick William II of Prussia, a month after his second marriage. In England, however, the couple were usually known as the Margrave and Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach.{{r|name="DG"|pages=135,183}}

After Alexander's death at Benham Park in 1806, Princess Berkeley moved to Naples. She died at Craven Villa in Posillipo 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.{{NHLE |num=1258195 |access-date=2014-09-09}}

Her children were:{{Cite book |last=Burke |first=John |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433081841102?urlappend=%3Bseq=114%3Bownerid=27021597765801164-124 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire |year=1826 |page=74 |publisher=H. Colburn |hdl=2027/nyp.33433081841102?urlappend=%3Bseq=114 |author-link=John Burke (genealogist) |via=HathiTrust}}

Hon. Elizabeth Craven (1768 – 1799), married John Edward Maddocks
Hon. Maria Margaret Craven (1769 – 1851), married William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton
Major-General William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven (1770 – 1825)
Hon. Georgiana Craven (1772 – 1839)
Hon. Arabella Craven (1774 – 1819), married General Hon. Frederick St John
Major-General Hon. Henry Augustus Berkeley Craven (1776 – 1836)
Hon. Richard Keppel Craven (1779 – 1851)

Works

Early in her literary career she wrote a number of light farces, pantomimes, and fables, some of which were performed in London. She knew Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, and became a close friend of Horace Walpole, who published her early works.

=Publications=

{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=O Mistress Mine |date=c. 1775 |language=en |author-mask=4}}: this is one of the few of Craven's musical compositions to survive.
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=The Sleep-Walker, a Comedy; in two acts. Translated from the French, in March, M.DCC.LXXVIII. |publisher=Printed by T. Kirgate|location=Strawberry Hill GB |date=1778 |language=en |author-mask=4}}: Translated from Le Somnambule, a comedy by Antoine de Ferriol de Pont-de-Veyle; Craven also wrote the prologue and epilogue."[https://womensprinthistoryproject.com/person/1168 Craven, Elizabeth]." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 1168. Accessed 2022-08-27.
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=A Fashionable Day |date=1780 |publisher=G. Kearsly and R. Faulder |location=UK |language=en |author-mask=4}}: translated from Giuseppe Parini's original Italian[https://books.google.com/books?id=x0jOQwAACAAJ Google Books]
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Modern anecdote of the ancient family of the Kinkvervankotsdarsprakengotchderns: a tale for Christmas 1779. Dedicated to the Honorable Horace Walpole, Esq; |publisher=printed for the author; and sold by M. Davenhill, No 13, Cornhill; J. Bew, Pater-Noster-Row; and the Booksellers in Town and Country |location=London |date=1779 |language=en |author-mask=4}}: published anonymously; went into four editions by 1781.
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=The miniature picture. A comedy in three acts. |publisher=printed by W. Richardson |location=London |date=1780 |language=en |author-mask=4}}: published anonymously; a new edition came out the following year after the play debuted professionally
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Songs, duets, trios, &c. in The silver tankard; or, ehe [sic] point at Portsmouth. As performed at the Theatre-Royal in the Hay-Market. |publisher=printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand |location=London |date=1781 |language=en |author-mask=4}}: published anonymously
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=A journey through the Crimea to Constantinople. In a series of letters from the right honourable Elizabeth Lady Craven, to His Serene Highness the Margrave of Brandebourg, Anspach, and Bareith. Written in the year MDCCLXXXVI. |publisher=printed for G. G. J. and J. Robinson |location=London |date=1789 |language=en |author-mask=4}}: there was a second edition, and an Irish edition, the same year
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Le Philosophe Moderne. Comédie en trois actes|date=1790 |location=Anspach |language=fr |trans-title=The Modern Philosopher |author-mask=4}}: this play was only translated into English in 2018{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |url=https://vernonpress.com/title?id=334 |title=The Modern Philosopher, Letters to Her Son and Verses on the Siege of Gibraltar, by Elizabeth Craven |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn= |edition=1st |editor-last1=Gasper |editor-first1=Julia |language=en}}
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Remarks in a journey through the Crimea by Lady Craven. Selected from her elegant letters. Interspersed with descriptive accounts. By various autors. |date=1791 |publisher=printed by J.S. Barr |location=London |language=en |author-mask=4}}
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Letters from a Peeress of England to her Eldest Son |date=1794 |publisher=Debrett |location=London |language=en |author-mask=4}}
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Airs and chorusses in The Princess of Georgia, an opera: written by Her Serene Highness the Margravine of Anspach, and performed at Brandenburgh-House Theatre, 1798. |date=1798 |location=London |language=en |author-mask=4}}
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=The Soldier of Dierenstein; or, Love and Mercy. An Austrian Story, by H. S. H. The M. of A—. |date=1802 |publisher=Printed by T. Mayo, and published by J. White, Fleet-Street, London |location=Newbury, GB |language=en |author-mask=4}}
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Letters from the Right Honorable Lady Craven, to his serene highness the margrave of Anspach, during her travels through France, Germany, and Russia in 1785 and 1786 |date=1814 |language=en |author-mask=4}}
{{Cite book |last=Craven |first=Elizabeth |title=Memoirs of the Margravine of Anspach. Written by herself. In two volumes. |date=1826 |publisher=Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street |location=London |language=en |author-mask=4}}

=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.Franceschina, John. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20070103055458/http://www.etang.umontreal.ca/bwp1800/essays/franceschina_georgian_intr.html Introduction to Elizabeth Berkeley Craven's The Georgian Princess]." British Women Playwrights around 1800. 15 January 2001. Accessed 27 August 2022.

=Etexts=

{{Cite book |url=http://www.etang.umontreal.ca/bwp1800/plays/craven_georgian/index.html |title=The Georgian Princess |date=1799 |language=en |author-mask=4 |orig-date=1798 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106205238/http://www.etang.umontreal.ca/bwp1800/plays/craven_georgian/index.html |archive-date=2007-01-06 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Franceschina |first=John |date=2001-01-15 |title=British Women Playwrights around 1800 |url=http://www.etang.umontreal.ca/bwp1800/essays/franceschina_georgian_intr.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103055458/http://www.etang.umontreal.ca/bwp1800/essays/franceschina_georgian_intr.html |archive-date=2007-01-03 |language=en}}{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1994 |title=Anspach, Elizabeth |encyclopedia=The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers |publisher=W. W. Norton |url={{GBurl|id=IvoQQU1QL_QC|page=19}} |access-date=2010-10-10 |page=19 |isbn=9780393034875 |last2=Samuel |first2=Rhian |via=Google Books |first1=Julie Anne |last1=Sadie}}
Modern anecdotes (1779): [https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=j7vNK1n9mV4C&rdid=book-j7vNK1n9mV4C&rdot=1 full text] at Google Books
The Miniature Picture (1780): [https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Elizabeth_Craven_The_Miniature_Picture?id=tXNbAAAAQAAJ full text] at Google Books
A journey through the Crimea (1789): [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433051557662 full text] at HathiTrust; [https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Baroness_Elizabeth_Craven_Craven_A_Journey_Through?id=PrMZAAAAYAAJ full text] at Google Books
Memoirs of the Margravine of Anspach (1826): [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101075688851 full text] at HathiTrust; [https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Baroness_Elizabeth_Craven_Craven_Memoirs_of_the_Ma?id=GVFBH4sKctEC full text] at Google Books

Notes

External links

{{cite DNB|wstitle=Anspach, Elizabeth, Margravine of}}
"[https://womensprinthistoryproject.com/person/1168 Craven, Elizabeth]." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 1168. Accessed 2022-08-27.
[https://www2.shu.ac.uk/corvey/CW3/AuthorPage.cfm?Author=EC4 Elizabeth Craven], Covey Author Page.
[http://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/authors/pers00215.shtml Elizabeth Craven] at the [http://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/ Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)]
[https://www.british-travel-writing.org/authors/1036 Lady Elizabeth Craven], [https://www.british-travel-writing.org/texts Women’s Travel Writing, 1780–1840], [https://www.british-travel-writing.org/ British Travel Writing]
{{cite ODNB |id=576 |title=Elizabeth, margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth (other married name Elizabeth Craven, Lady Craven) (1750–1828) |first=Katherine |last=Turner}}

Category:1750 births

Category:1828 deaths

Category:Daughters of British earls

Category:English baronesses by marriage

Category:English dramatists and playwrights

Category:People from Hammersmith

Category:People from Speen, Berkshire

Category:People from Westminster

Category:British women dramatists and playwrights

Category:18th-century British women writers

Category:18th-century British writers

Category:18th-century travel writers