Elizabeth Grimston (also Grymeston or Grimeston; c. 1563 – c. 1603) was an English poet.
Life
She was born in North Erpingham, Norfolk, England, to parents Martin Bernye (Barney), Esquire of Gunton, Norfolk, and Margaret Flint. She was the fifth child in the family, with a younger sister Margaret. Elizabeth's father, a prominent lawyer, was the owner of a large amount of land in Gunton, Norfolk, including Gunton Hall and St. Andrew's Church in Gunton.
She married Christopher, the youngest son of Thomas Grimston of Grimston, Yorkshire. Her married life appears to have been rendered miserable by the cruelty of her mother, whereby she became a chronic invalid. Reduced, as she described it, to the condition of "a dead woman among the living", she "resolved to break the barren soil of her fruitless brain," and devoted herself to the compilation of a moral guide-book for the benefit of her son Bernye Grymeston, the only survivor of her nine children. She died in 1603 before the publication of her work, which appeared under the title of Miscelanea : Meditations : Memoratives, by Elizabeth Grymeston, London, 1604, 4to.
Marriage
In 1584, when Elizabeth was about 21, she married Christopher Grymeston, son of Thomas Grymeston and Dorothy Thwaytes of Smeeton, Yorkshire. Their marriage was a struggling one that seemed to be subject to much scandal. On 17 December 1578, at the age of 14, Christopher Grymeston had been admitted as a pensioner to the Bachelor's table at Caius College in Cambridge. Christopher received his bachelor's degree in 1582–1583, and was admitted as a fellow-commoner in 1584 at the school. After he received his master's in 1586, he became a fellow of the college (1587–1592), serving as bursar in 1588.
While Christopher was successful at the college, his role paid a toll on his marriage. Fellows at Caius were not allowed to retain their fellowships after marriage. Residence was required of all fellows, especially for the office of bursar. Christopher's upholding of these requirements and his prolonged place as a fellow at the school mean that his marriage to Elizabeth was kept secret for almost ten years. Difficulties within the marriage and its secrecy from the school may have led Christopher to sever ties with Caius in 1592. On 21 January 1592, he joined Gray's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in London, to practise as a barrister.
The couple's hidden relationship was not the only scandal during their marriage. In a book written for her son, Elizabeth revealed that she suffered under her mother's wrath and feared for her husband's life, stating that Christopher was threatened with numerous attempts of violence. The sole purpose of Elizabeth's book was to advise her son, should she die before she could teach him how to live as a proper, pious man.
Margaret Flint's hostility to her daughter arose from a dispute over Martin Bernye's will. Under normal circumstances, Bernye's numerous estates would pass to Elizabeth's eldest brother Marmaduke. Bernye, however, ultimately changed his will, making Elizabeth and Christopher the ultimate heirs to the Bernye lands, which included Gunton Hall, Netherhall, and various pieces of land in Gunton, as well as Thorpe Market, Suffield, Antingham, Hanworth Abbey, and Bradfield. This angered Elizabeth's mother, who was wholly removed from any rights to wealth and power. Ultimately, however, it was she who prospered; she outlived her daughter and all the property was placed in her name.