Husband #3
One of Elizabeth’s first appointments of her reign was to make Sir William St. Loe (1518-65) her personal Yeoman Guard. At almost the same time, William’s father died, and he inherited a vast and ancient assemblage of lands in the South West of England, properties, and titles. The St. Loe family came to England around 1100, when they were mentioned at the court of Henry I. St Loe himself had proven his loyalty to Elizabeth by his involvement in the plot to replace Bloody Mary with the younger princess. In the winter of 1558-59, he fell in love with Bess.
The feeling was reciprocated, though Bess was doubtless also impressed with St. Loe’s means and position. Queen Elizabeth approved of the marriage, and possibly attended the wedding on August 27, 1559. As Bess continued to build at Chatsworth, however, trouble was brewing. William’s brother, Edward, had assumed that he would be his sonless brother’s heir, and was hence threatened by this new marriage. He began to quibble over the specifics of William’s inheritance, and in 1560 Bess narrowly survived being poisoned by her troublesome brother-in-law. Despite public knowledge of his part in the poisoning plot, Edward was not punished.
William St. Loe died in 1565, possibly poisoned by Edward, who suspiciously stayed with his estranged brother in his dying days and immediately produced a dubious indenture from his father giving him one of his William’s properties. Bess and St. Loe had managed to reduce the Cavendish fine exponentially, and her inheritance from the unfortunate William was enormous, but she was still determined not to lose what she felt was rightfully hers. Thus she fought another lengthy legal battle, and came out on top. She was now second only to Queen Elizabeth herself as the most eligible woman in England.