Brilliana Lady Harley

Background

Conway was born at Brill, near Rotterdam in the Netherlands, while her father Sir Edward Conway (later Viscount Conway) was Governor there. Little is known about her early life.

Education

Brilliana was well educated, knowing both French and Latin, but was, like most women of her class, destined to fulfil a domestic role.

Career

When the Civil War began in 1642, Lady Brilliana asked her husband to allow her to join him in London (where he attended Parliament) but accepted the necessity of staying at Brampton Bryan as God's will. She gathered men and weapons because she feared a royalist siege, as both she and her husband were charged with treasonous activities. On 26 July 1643, 700 royalist soldiers surrounded the castle, with about 50 soldiers and 50 civilians inside. Lady Brilliana refused to surrender the castle. She used many delaying tactics in her negotiations; as a woman, she claimed that she could not surrender the castle without knowing her husband's intentions. During the nearly seven-week siege, Lady Brilliana witnessed the spoliation of her property and endured the offensive curses of royalists. Buoyed by her religious faith, she believed that God would eventually deliver her, and indeed the siege was lifted on 9 September when the royalists temporarily left. Emboldened, she then initiated a successful attack on nearby royalists. Lady Brilliana, however, was caught in the castle when royalists renewed their siege in October, and she died on 31 October from a lung ailment. Without her leadership, the castle fell in 1644; it was burned to the ground with her remains inside.

Achievements

• During the English Civil War, in the absence of her husband and sons, Lady Harley defended her home, Brampton Bryan Castle during a three-month siege by Royalist troops until the troops withdrew because they were needed at Gloucester. She then compelled her tenants to level the Royalist siege earthworks. She also dispatched 40 troops to raid a local Royalist camp at Knighton.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Letters of the Lady Brilliana Harley: Wife of Sir Robert Harley, of Brampton Bryan, Knight of the Bath 1854

Religion

Brilliana was deeply religious, and her letters frequently repeat religious sentiments and encouraged her family in their chosen Puritan practices.

Politics

Lady Harley was able to keep her husband informed of local political affairs when he was absent from home at Brampton Bryan in northwest Herefordshire, attending Parliament or for other reasons, and organized the collection on information locally for the Parliamentary Committee on Scandalous Ministers.

Views

Lady Harley died of a cold on 29 October 1643, after bravely defending her castle This was probably as a result of the hardships endured during the siege.

Connections

Lady Harley married Sir Robert Harley as his third wife, enjoying great love and tenderness with him.

Father:

Edward Conway

husband:

Robert Harley

Sir Robert Harley was an English statesman who served as Master of the Mint for Charles I and later supported the parliamentarians during the English Civil War.

Son:

Edward Harley

Sir Edward Harley was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1646 and 1695. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.

Grandson:

Robert Harley

Grandson:

Edward Harley

References

• Amazons to Fighter Pilots: A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women
  2003