Cavendish and Brackley were the first and second daughters of William Cavendish, a nobleman and Royalist Captain-General in the English Civil War. As a writer himself, their father actively encouraged the sisters to write their own works. Together, the pair co-authored a handful of plays and poetry volumes, including The Concealed Fancies and A Pastorall.

In 1644, the Royalists suffered a great defeat at Marston Moor and William Cavendish went into exile as a result. Jane became the head of the family and took over the management of Welbeck and Bolsover estates. When Welbeck was taken over by a garrison of 200 Parliamentary soldiers a month later, Jane and Elizabeth were imprisoned at the estate with their younger sister Frances. It was during this time that they penned The Concealed Fancies.

Elizabeth married in 1641 and Jane in 1654, with both eventually moving to their husbands’ respective estates. Elizabeth died during the birth of her tenth child in 1663 – her husband, who never remarried, wrote the famous epitaph which brought attention to her writing. Jane followed in 1669, remembered in her funeral sermon for the joy her works brought to her family and friends.

Follow the links to learn more about A Pastorall and The Concealed Fancies, as well as the estates of Welbeck and Bolsover.