A woman of ruthless social and political ambition, Elizabeth Murray gained notoriety as a seventeenth century double agent, using her charms to entertain Oliver Cromwell, and all the while remaining loyal to the exiled King Charles II.
Elizabeth Murray was born in 1626, the eldest daughter of William Murray and Catherine Bruce. Her father grew up with Charles I and fulfilled the role of ‘whipping boy’, being punished on behalf of the future king. William was appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber in 1625 and was a loyal supporter of Charles I during the Civil War, and was created Earl of Dysart in 1651.
Elizabeth was a determined child with an enquiring mind, and her parents gave her an intellectual education, embracing mathematics, philosophy, divinity and history. She grew into an attractive and ambitious woman, her red hair indicative of her fiery temperament and dominant manner. She married an unassuming but rich Suffolk landowner, Sir Lionel Tollemache, in 1648 and gave birth to eleven children, five of whom survived to adulthood.
After her mother’s death in 1649, she held court at her parent’s home, Ham House, conveniently situated on the River Thames between Whitehall and Hampton Court. It was here that Elizabeth charmed Oliver Cromwell, while working for the secret society, The Sealed Knot. Despite her husband’s entreaties to give up her dangerous espionage, she travelled on the continent, passing coded messages to the exiled king and his supporters, operating under the pseudonym ‘Mrs Legge’.
Elizabeth was justly rewarded for her loyalty, and was given a pension of £800 a year when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660. She had inherited suo jure her father’s title on his death in 1655 and her position as a woman of power and influence attracted the attention of John Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, who was Secretary of State for Scotland and a loyal supporter of the king. He was a man of great intellect, and equal ruthlessness.
When Lionel Tollemache died in 1669, Elizabeth’s friendship with Lauderdale became closer. Lauderdale’s wife died in 1671 and within four months of her funeral he and Elizabeth were married. A few months later, in May 1672, Lauderdale was made a duke and the couple were at the height of their power and prestige, matching each other in reputation and ambition. They lived in ostentatious splendour, remodelling Ham House and their lodgings at Whitehall, as well as their three Scottish properties and apartments at Holyrood Palace. They introduced the latest interior fashions from France and laid out splendid gardens designed to impress. At Ham House, a suite of rooms was fitted out with lavish decorations to accommodate Queen Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II. Elizabeth ensured that her presence was dominant in these ostentatious rooms by emblazoning her initials and cypher onto silverwork, marquetry and scagliola, impressing her power on the queen and other favoured guests.
With such power came opposition, and there were accusations of greed and corruption, arrogance and haughtiness. A contemporary commentator presented a provocative image of Lauderdale: ‘[he] made but an ill appearance, his hair red, his tongue too big for his mouth, and his whole manner rough’. Elizabeth’s character was expressed by the derisory statement: ‘She was violent in everything she set about, a violent friend, but a still more violent enemy’.
Inevitably, Elizabeth and Lauderdale were to fall from grace. Lauderdale suffered a stroke, was forced to resign from office and was deprived of his positions and pensions. He died in 1682 and Elizabeth was left alone at Ham House, locked in a bitter legal dispute with Lauderdale’s family over the duke’s funeral expenses. Their extravagance and excess had come at a cost, and Elizabeth was faced with huge debts, forcing her to mortgage Ham House and sell her silver and jewels. Her sisters had all died, her two younger sons were killed in battle in 1694 and her other children lived too far away for companionship. Crippled by gout, she lived her final years alone and reclusive at Ham House and died there in 1698.
Further reading:
Rosemary Baird, Mistress of the House: Great Ladies and Grand Houses 1670-1830, 2004
Susan Bracken et al, Women Patrons and Collectors, 2012
Christopher Rowell, Ham House, 1995
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