Cavendish family

Cavendish family
Armorial of Cavendish
Country	Kingdom of England Kingdom of Ireland United Kingdom
Place of origin	Norman
Founded	c.1346
Founder	Sir John Cavendish
Current head	Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire
Titles	Duke of Devonshire Duke of Newcastle Marquess of Hartington Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Earl of Devonshire Earl of Burlington Earl of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Viscount Mansfield Baron Clifford Baron Cavendish Baron Cavendish of Keighley Baron Waterpark Baron Ogle Baron Chesham

Cavendish (/ˈkævəndɪʃ/) is the surname of a British noble family, also known as the House of Cavendish. This Cavendish family has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century, and has been rivalled in political influence perhaps only by the Marquesses of Salisbury and the Earls of Derby. They are descended from Sir John Cavendish of Cavendish in the county of Suffolk (c. 1346–1381), and have held the following peerages:

• The dukedom of Devonshire
• The dukedom of Newcastle
• The barony of Waterpark

Notable members

• Amanda Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (born 1944)
• Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire (1920–2004), British government minister
• Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1920-2014), Mitford sister and writer
• Lord Edward Cavendish (1838–91), British politician
• Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (1895–1950), Minister in Winston Churchill's wartime cabinet
• Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1870–1960), Mistress of the Robes to Queen Mary
• Lady Dorothy Cavendish (1750–94), Duchess of Portland, 3x great grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II
• Lord Frederick Cavendish (1729–1803), soldier
• Lord Frederick Cavendish (1836–82), British Liberal politician
• George Augustus Henry Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington (1754–1834)
• George Henry Compton Cavendish (1784–1809), English politician
• George Cavendish (1500–c.1562), English writer, biographer of Cardinal Wolsey
• Lord George Augustus Cavendish (?–1794), British politician
• Lord George Henry Cavendish (1810–1880), British politician
• Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806), socialite
• Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle (1630–91)
• Sir Henry Cavendish, 1st Baronet (1707-76), Anglo-Irish politician
• Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) scientist, known for the Cavendish experiment
• Sir Henry Cavendish, 2nd Baronet (1732-1804), Anglo-Irish politician
• Henry Cavendish, 3rd Baron Waterpark (1793–1863), MP
• Hugh Cavendish, Baron Cavendish of Furness (born 1941), Baron Cavendish of Furness
• John Cavendish (c.1346–81)
• Lord John Cavendish (1734–96), English politician
• Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington aka Kick Kennedy (1920–48), sister of U.S. president John F. Kennedy
• Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1832–1911), the "Double Duchess"
• Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925)
• Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623–73), English writer and scientist
• Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1895–1988), Mistress of the Robes to Elizabeth II
• Michael Cavendish (c.1565–1628), English composer
• Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire (born 1944), 12th Duke of Devonshire, horse racing devotee
• Richard Cavendish, 2nd Baron Waterpark (1765-1830)
• Lord Richard Cavendish (1752–1781), Member of the Parliament of Great Britain
• Lord Richard Cavendish (1794–1876), Member of Parliament, member of the Canterbury Association
• Lord Richard Cavendish (1871–1946), author, magistrate and politician
• Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (1833–1908), British Liberal statesman
• Thomas Cavendish (1555–92), "The Navigator", British explorer
• Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (1868–1938), British politician, Governor General of Canada (1916–21)
• William Cavendish (1505–57), English courtier
• William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1592-1676), English soldier, politician and writer
• William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (1698–1755), Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1737–44.
• William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (1720–64), briefly Prime Minister of Great Britain
• William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (1790–1858), Lord Chamberlain to King William IV
• William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire (1808–91), Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1861–91, for whom Cavendish Laboratory is named
• William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1917–44), killed in action, Belgium - World War II
• William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington aka Bill Burlington (born 1969), professional photographer

The 3rd to 9th Dukes of Portland were descended from the Cavendish family in the female line and took the surname Cavendish-Bentinck or a variant thereof. Their principal seat, Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire, came to them through the Cavendish connection.

References

• Charles Roger Dod, Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, Volume 15 (S. Low, Marston & Company, 1855), 544.
• William Courthope, Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (J. G. & F. Rivington, 1838), 18.
• Sir Egerton Brydges, A Biographical Peerage of the Empire of Great Britain (J. Johnson, 1808), 86.