Hastings (née Stanley), Elizabeth (1587-01-06 - 1633-01-20)

Countess of Huntingdon. Elizabeth (b. c. 1587) was the third daughter of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th earl of Derby, and Alice Spencer (who would later marry Sir Thomas Egerton). Together with her two sisters, Anne (later Lady Chandos) and Frances (1st Countess of Bridgewater) she received an extensive education, and was known for her intelligence and religious devotion. The sisters and their mother were important literary patrons. She married Henry Hastings, 5th earl of Huntingdon on 15 January 1601 and they had four children. She oversaw the continuing education of her son Ferdinando's wife, Lady Lucy Davies. She was a patron of John Fletcher, John Donne and Thomas Pestell. She was heavily involved in the management of her family estate, and in 1607 she was an intermediary for her husband in his quarrel with the Leicester councillors. In 1630, she lobbied to re-establish the Huntingdon links with Whitehall. She died at Whitefriars and was buried at Ashby-de-la-Zouch on 9 February 1633.