The task of recovering his estates was made somewhat easier for William Craven by the fact that he had never consented to their sale, as had some of his fellow landowners in exile. In the early 1660s he extended the park, and bought both the manor of Kintbury Holt adjoining Hamstead, and Ashdown in north-west Berks.

Amongst his extensive properties he now owned a house in Drury Lane, which he prepared lavishly for the return of his lady, Madame Royale, the Queen of Hearts or the Winter Queen, as Elizabeth Stuart was variously known. She was 64, twelve years Craven's senior and, according to Samuel Pepys "a very debonair but plain lady". Some said that she and Craven had entered into a secret marriage in the Netherlands, and this belief has endured to the present day although without evidence. Others assumed that they were lovers, although gossips of the day also credited Craven with aspirations to the hand of one or more of her daughters. The correspondence between them however was as proper in tone as one would expect between a queen and a respectful courtier of whom she was reasonably, but not passionately, fond. Officially he was her Master of Horse.

Rather more mysterious was the apparent absence of other women setting their caps at Craven. It must have been rare for so wealthy a man to have survived unmarried into middle life. Now aged 52 and the last of the Cavaliers in spirit, Craven was a simple loyalist who had never bent to political expedient. He must have cut a strangely anachronistic figure at the Restoration court, that vipers' nest of satire and intrigue. The old nobility, disliking the smell of his still-newish money, sniffed and said "his wealth was his only friend". But he still enjoyed considerable trust and favour from Charles II, who showered him with titles and offices, the most significant of which was an earldom granted in 1664 and the post of lieutenant-commander of the armed forces, a powerful and sensitive position in a country with such recent memories of civil war.

In addition to financial subsidy, Craven gave good value in public service for these favours. During the plague year, the Great Fire and civic unrest in London he hurled himself into service with a near-manic sense of public duty that caused more idle observers to titter.

Craven was also on good terms with the king's brother, the Duke of York (later to become James II). James too was a military man at heart, whose lack of deviousness was to prove his undoing. In a society renowned for backbiting treachery Craven's simple integrity must have had a strong appeal to those in high places who feared betrayal.

Elizabeth finally divested herself of importunate creditors in the Netherlands. She crossed the Channel in 1661, and landed at Margate to a warm welcome from Craven and the common people, though not from her brother the king, who was indifferent to her return. She journeyed to London to take up residence in Drury Lane.

Honours bestowed on William Craven

1627 Knighted. Eight days later created Baron Craven of Hamstead Marshall. Made a permanent member of Council of War.
1631 Commander of English army in Germany. Knighted on the field of battle by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
1661 Major of a regiment of horse.
1662 Colonel of a regiment of foot.
1633 Placed on Council for Wales. Awarded MA Oxon. Made an Elder of Trinity House.
1660 Governor of Shrewsbury.
1664 Viscount Uffington. Earl of Craven.
1666 Privy Councillor.
1667 Lieutenant-General of the forces. High Steward of University of Cambridge. Commissioner for Tangier. Lord Proprietor of Province of Carolina.
1668 Governor of Charterhouse.
1670 Lord-Lieutenant of Middlesex and Southwark. Colonel of the Coldstream Guards. Master of Trinity House.
1678 Colonel of the Blue Regiment, Middlesex Militia. Colonel of the Red Regiment. Captain of the Troop of Middlesex Horse Militia.
1682 Guardian of Ruperta, Prince Rupert's illegitimate daughter, after Rupert's death.
1685 Assistant of Trinity House.
1689 Deprived of offices after accession of William and Mary.
1690 High Steward of Newbury.
1692 Elected master of the Merchant Taylors' Company but declined.

Click to return to Craven Country homepage or next chapter

Your comments and questions are welcome.
Please click to send an e-mail.
Page last updated 9th February 2005.
Copyright Penelope Stokes.