Elizabeth Craven

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

Elizabeth Craven
Elizabeth, Baroness Craven, later Margravine of Ansbach, circa 1780–1783, by Ozias Humphry
Elizabeth, Baroness Craven, later Margravine of Ansbach, circa 1780–1783, by Ozias Humphry
BornElizabeth Berkeley
(1750-12-17)17 December 1750
London
Died13 January 1828(1828-01-13) (aged 77)
Posilipo
OccupationWriter
NationalityBritish
Period1778–1826
SubjectTravel writing, drama, memoirs
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1767; died 1791)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1791; died 1806)​
    Children7, including William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven
    Relatives

    Life
    The Margravine of Anspach's Brandenburgh House, published May 1, 1809, drawn by S. Owen, engraved by W. Cooke.

    Elizabeth Berkeley was born in Mayfair, London, the third child of the Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley and his wife, Elizabeth Drax, daughter of Henry Drax and Elizabeth Ernle.

    Biography

    Her life was full of scandal: on 30 May 1767, "much against her will at the age of sixteen,"[1] 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.[2]: 148  She had an affair with Charles Greville sometime in late 1783.[3]

    Thereafter she lived in France and traveled extensively on the Continent.

    For a number of years she maintained a romantic relationship with Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. During her years at the Ansbach court, Craven formed an amateur theatre at court, which counted the composer Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt among its members.[4] The wife of Charles Alexander since 1754, Princess Frederica Caroline of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld died in Germany on 18 February 1791, and William Craven died in Lausanne on 26 September 1791. Craven and Alexander 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 Benham Park at Speen in Berkshire.

    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.[2]: 135, 183  In fact, Charles 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".[2]: 135, 183 

    After Charles Alexander's death at Benham Park in 1806, Craven 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.[5]

    Her children were:[6]

    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
    • ———— (c. 1775). O Mistress Mine.: this is one of the few of Craven's musical compositions to survive.
    • ———— (1778). The Sleep-Walker, a Comedy; in two acts. Translated from the French, in March, M.DCC.LXXVIII. Strawberry Hill GB: Printed by T. Kirgate.: Translated from Le Somnambule, a comedy by Antoine de Ferriol de Pont-de-Veyle; Craven also wrote the prologue and epilogue.[7]
    • ———— (1780). A Fashionable Day. UK: G. Kearsly and R. Faulder.: translated from Giuseppe Parini's original Italian[8]
    • ———— (1779). Modern anecdote of the ancient family of the Kinkvervankotsdarsprakengotchderns: a tale for Christmas 1779. Dedicated to the Honorable Horace Walpole, Esq;. London: printed for the author; and sold by M. Davenhill, No 13, Cornhill ; J. Bew, Pater-Noster-Row; and the Booksellers in Town and Country.: published anonymously; went into four editions by 1781.[7]
    • ———— (1780). The miniature picture. A comedy in three acts. London: printed by W. Richardson.: published anonymously; a new edition came out the following year after the play debuted professionally[7]
    • ———— (1781). Songs, duets, trios, &c. in The silver tankard; or, ehe [sic] point at Portsmouth. As performed at the Theatre-Royal in the Hay-Market. London: printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand.: published anonymously[7]
    • ———— (1789). 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. London: printed for G. G. J. and J. Robinson.: there was a second edition, and an Irish edition, the same year[7]
    • ———— (1790). Le Philosophe Moderne. Comédie en trois actes [The Modern Philosopher] (in French). Anspach.: this play was only translated into English in 2018[9]
    • ———— (1791). Remarks in a journey through the Crimea by Lady Craven. Selected from her elegant letters. Interspersed with descriptive accounts. By various autors. London: printed by J.S. Barr.[7]
    • ———— (1794). Letters from a Peeress of England to her Eldest Son. London: Debrett.[10]
    • ———— (1798). 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. London.[7]
    • ———— (1802). The Soldier of Dierenstein; or, Love and Mercy. An Austrian Story, by H. S. H. The M. of A—. Newbury, GB: Printed by T. Mayo, and published by J. White, Fleet-Street, London.[7]
    • ———— (1814). 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.
    • ———— (1826). Memoirs of the Margravine of Anspach. Written by herself. In two volumes. London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street.[7]

    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.[11]

    Etexts

    Notes
    1. Gasper, Julia (2018). "Introduction". In Gasper, Julia (ed.). The Modern Philosopher, Letters to Her Son and Verses on the Siege of Gibraltar, by Elizabeth Craven. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 2.
    2. Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F.; Magdelaine, B. (1988). L'Allemagne Dynastique [Dynastic Germany] (in French). Vol. 5. A. Giraud. ISBN 2-901138-05-5.
    3. Williams, Kate (2009). England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton (Large Print ed.). BBC Audiobooks Ltd by arr. with Random House. p. 164. ISBN 9781408430781.
    4. Bistrup, Annelise, ed. (1990). "Maria Theresia Ahlefeldt (1755 - 1810)". kvinfo.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
    5. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1258195)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
    6. Burke, John (1826). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. H. Colburn. p. 74. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081841102 – via HathiTrust.
    7. "Craven, Elizabeth." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 1168. Accessed 2022-08-27.
    8. Google Books
    9. Craven, Elizabeth (2018). Gasper, Julia (ed.). The Modern Philosopher, Letters to Her Son and Verses on the Siege of Gibraltar, by Elizabeth Craven (1st ed.). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
    10. Craven, Elizabeth (2018). Gasper, Julia (ed.). The Modern Philosopher, Letters to Her Son and Verses on the Siege of Gibraltar, by Elizabeth Craven (1st ed.). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
    11. Franceschina, John. "Introduction to Elizabeth Berkeley Craven's The Georgian Princess." British Women Playwrights around 1800. 15 January 2001. Accessed 27 August 2022.
    12. Franceschina, John (15 January 2001). "British Women Playwrights around 1800". Archived from the original on 3 January 2007.
    13. Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). "Anspach, Elizabeth". The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers. W. W. Norton. p. 19. ISBN 9780393034875. Retrieved 10 October 2010 – via Google Books.

    Further reading
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