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 Colonel Frederick Augustus Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley (24 May 1745 – 8 August 1810) was a British peer and militia officer who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire from 1766 to 1810. Origins and education Berkeley was the elde ...

(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 nobility, English nobleman and a landowner. Biography William Craven was the son of Revd John Craven, Vicar of Stanton Lacy, Shropshire (1708–1752) ...

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

Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach Christian Frederick Charles 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 fellow member of the House of Hohenzollern. ...

. *Admiral Hon. Sir

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

(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. A lady of the bedchamber would gi ...

to the Princess of Wales (The Dowager Princess of Wales from 1751),

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ( – 8 February 1772) was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father ...

. 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 Anglo-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, mo ...

, 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 Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (17 June 1753 – 11 February 1813), known as George Grenville before 1779 and as The Earl Temple between 1779 and 1784, was a British statesman. Background and early life Grenville w ...

, 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 a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as for his military re ...

and had children The countess had her portrait painted in 1759 by Sir

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

. Following her death, she was buried with her first husband in

Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stroud (district), 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 t ...

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