DIVORCED BEHEADED DIED

Historian and best-selling author Alison Weir discusses her latest novel and her affinity to Derbyshire

- Nathan Fearn

What a character!’ exclaims Alison Weir, the UK’s best-selling female historian who, by definition, knows a thing or two about figures of the past.

Our conversation has briefly touched on Elizabeth Talbot (formerly Cavendish), Countess of Shrewsbury.

Bess of Hardwick, as she is commonly known, is a character etched in the fabric of Derbyshire history; one of those fiendishly rare Tudor figures who rose to prominence from a relatively low base and stayed there.

A female trailblazer in a male-dominated world she was, in many ways, ahead of her time.

The famous prodigy houses she is so synonymous with, Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House chiefly, helped cement Derbyshire’s reputation as a must-visit location for anybody with a penchant for history and heritage; a status that holds true over 400 years since she left her imprints on our county.

‘We’ve done several historical tours through Derbyshire, it’s a wonderful part of the world,’ says Alison, who has published 29 books since her 1989 debut title, Britain’s Royal Families.

‘It’s a county with an incredibly rich heritage with fantastic places to visit. You have Bolsover, Haddon, Hardwick, and of course Chatsworth; I have relatives who live near Chatsworth so we’re up there quite a lot. I love the area, it’s beautiful.’

Another famous Tudor figure, Katheryn Howard, is the focus of our chat on a bright sun-drenched late April day; a stark contrast to the considerably darker nature of the life we are discussing.