Early life , 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.
Marriages and later life Her life was full of scandal: on 30 May 1767, "much against her will at the age of sixteen", 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. She had an affair with
Charles Francis Greville sometime in late 1783. 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.
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. The Margravine was not received socially by certain women, and nor by King
George III, and 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. 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. 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. Her children were: • 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==