Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury

Who was Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury?

Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, 7th Earl of Waterford, KG was a peer in the peerage of England.

He was the eldest surviving son of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, by the latter's first marriage to Gertrude Manners, daughter of the first Earl of Rutland.

In 1568, Gilbert was married off to Mary Cavendish, daughter of his new stepmother, Bess of Hardwick. When Bess and her husband fell out, Gilbert took the side of his wife and his mother-in-law against his own father. However, when the old earl died in 1590, Gilbert refused Bess the widow's portion she felt was her due, and consequently they fell out. He appears to have been a highly quarrelsome individual, feuding with not only his stepmother but his brother and other family members, his tenants, and even Elizabeth I herself. He was overshadowed by his formidable wife: Francis Bacon remarked that she was undoubtedly "greater than he".

The children from his marriage to Mary Cavendish were:

⁕Lady Mary Talbot

⁕Lady Elizabeth Talbot

⁕Lady Alethea Talbot

Two sons, George and John, died in infancy.

He was elected knight of the shire for Derbyshire in 1572. He was summoned to the House of Lords as Baron Talbot in 1589 and became 7th Earl of Shrewsbury on his father's death in 1590.