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, municipality 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 ...

(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 province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

with the suffix ''-ian'' as a demonym and the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

feminine suffix ''-a''.

Letters

Some of Lady Harley's 375 letters to her husband, Sir Robert Harley 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 Brampton Bryan is a small village and civil parish situated in north Herefordshire, England close to the Shropshire and Welsh borders. Brampton Bryan lies midway between Leintwardine and Knighton on the A4113 road. The nearest station is Bu ...

in northwest

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

, 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 purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

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 (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, 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 a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

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 governm ...

troops until the troops withdrew because they were needed at

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

. 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 and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

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
1598 births 1643 deaths Roundheads People from Herefordshire Women in the English Civil War Brilliana Deaths from pneumonia in England English letter writers Women letter writers 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English writers {{England-writer-stub