 Little is known of Bess's early life.She appears to have been espoused to her first husband during the 1530s, and probably married for the first time in 1543.Despite the story being often repeated, there is no contemporary evidence whatsoever to support Dugdale's later claims that she became familiar with city life and the Tudor Court after being sent to live, aged twelve, in the London household of Anne Gainsford, Lady Zouche of Codnor Castle in Derbyshire, where she was supposedly influenced by Lady Zouche.