Duke of Devonshire

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For other uses, see Duke of Devonshire (disambiguation).

Dukedom of Devonshire
heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titlesMarquess of Hartington
Earl of Devonshire
Earl of Burlington (from 1858)
Baron Clifford (1764–1858)
Baron Cavendish
Baron Cavendish of Keighley (from 1858)
Seat(s)Chatsworth House
Bolton Abbey
Lismore Castle[2]
Former seat(s)Londesborough Hall
Hardwick Hall
Chiswick House
Devonshire House
Burlington House
MottoCavendo Tutus ("Safe through Caution")[3]

Duke of Devonshire is a

aristocratic families since the 16th century and has been rivalled in political influence perhaps only by the Marquesses of Salisbury and the Earls of Derby
.

History

Although the Cavendish

Devonshire" and their subsidiary title of earldom of Devonshire (neither peerage is related to the ancient title of Earl of Devon). The first Earl may have chosen "Devonshire" simply because places and lands he was associated with were already attached to existing peerages at the College of Arms.[4] The title remains associated with "Devonshire" even though in modern usage it is the county of Devon. Another reason for the choice of a non-local or regional name was to avoid antagonising the powerful Stanley family from the Midlands who had strong associations with Derbyshire since their ancestors had been gifted estates in the county by William the Conqueror, and they had also been the Earls of Derby since the late 15th century.[5] (See British peerage ranks
.)

Every Duke of Devonshire has so far been appointed a

Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter, except (as of 2023
) the present one.

Cavendish knights, and the 1st Earl of Devonshire

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire briefly Prime Minister between 1756 and 1757.

The Cavendish family descends from

Virginia. In 1605 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cavendish, of Hardwicke in the County of Derby, and in 1618 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Devonshire. Both titles are in the Peerage of England
.

The 2nd Earl of Devonshire and the first five Dukes of Devonshire

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
.

On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the

Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire from 1782 to 1811 but is best remembered[8] for his first marriage (1774) to Lady Georgiana Spencer
(1757–1806), the celebrated beauty and society hostess.

The sixth, seventh and eighth Dukes

Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire

Their only son,

Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire and Derbyshire and Chancellor of the University of London and of the University of Cambridge. He was succeeded by his second, but eldest surviving son, the eighth Duke. The eighth Duke was a noted statesman and the most famous member of the Cavendish family. Known under his courtesy title of Marquess of Hartington until 1891, he held political office for a period spanning 40 years, notably as Secretary of State for India and as Secretary of State for War, and three times declined to become Prime Minister. He married Louise, Dowager Duchess of Manchester
, who became known as the "Double Duchess".

The ninth, tenth and eleventh Dukes

Devonshire died childless and was succeeded by his nephew, the ninth Duke. He was the eldest son of

Governor-General of Canada from 1916 to 1921 and as Secretary of State for the Colonies
from 1922 to 1924.

His elder son, the tenth Duke, also a Conservative politician, served as

Second World War
in 1944 shortly after the marriage. The couple had no children.

Devonshire was therefore succeeded by his second and only surviving son, the

Mitford sisters. As of 2022, the titles are held by their second and only surviving son, Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire
, who succeeded in 2004.

The ninth and tenth dukes both served as Chancellor of the University of Leeds.

Other notable members of the Cavendish family

Numerous other members of the Cavendish family have also gained distinction.

Field Marshal in the Army. Lord John Cavendish, fourth son of the third Duke, was a politician and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer
in 1782 and 1783.

Chatsworth House, the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Devonshire

general in the Army. The Hon. Charles Compton Cavendish, fourth son of the first Earl of Burlington, was created Baron Chesham
in 1858.

Lord Frederick Cavendish, third son of the seventh Duke, was a Liberal politician. He had just been appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1882 when he was assassinated by nationalists in Phoenix Park, Dublin. His wife Lady Frederick (Lucy) Cavendish was a pioneer of women's education. Lord Edward Cavendish, fourth and youngest son of the seventh Duke, sat as Member of Parliament for several constituencies. His second son Lord Richard Cavendish represented North Lonsdale in Parliament. In 1911 he was one of the proposed recipients of peerages in case the Bill that was to become the Parliament Act 1911 was not accepted by the House of Lords. His grandson Hugh Cavendish was created a life peer as Baron Cavendish of Furness in 1990. Lady Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of the ninth Duke, was the wife of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

Courtesy titles and family seats

The Duke of Devonshire's eldest son may use the courtesy title Marquess of Hartington, whilst the eldest son of the eldest son may use the title Earl of Burlington, and his eldest son may use the title Lord Cavendish.

St Peter's Church, Edensor, Cavendish family plot with the graves of the Dukes of Devonshire

The family seats are Chatsworth House, Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, and Lismore Castle in County Waterford, in the Republic of Ireland. Compton Place in Eastbourne belongs to the family (which developed Eastbourne as a seaside resort in the 19th century) but is let. In 1908 Holker Hall, then in Lancashire, now in Cumbria, was left to a junior branch of the family. The family previously owned Londesborough Hall, Yorkshire; Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire; Chiswick House, Middlesex; and two London mansions on Piccadilly: Devonshire House and Burlington House. In 1907 the Duke owned 192,322 acres across the British Isles, principally in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, County Cork and County Waterford.[10]

The traditional burial place of the Dukes of Devonshire is at St Peter's Church, Edensor, in the closest village to Chatsworth House. The ducal graves can be found on the highest spot of Edensor's churchyard in the Cavendish family plot.

Earls of Devonshire (1618)

Other titles: Baron Cavendish of Hardwick, in the county of Derby (1605)

Dukes of Devonshire (1694)

Other titles: Marquess of Hartington, in the county of Derby (1694), Earl of Devonshire (1618) and Baron Cavendish of Hardwick, in the county of Derby (1605)
Armorial Achievement of the Dukes of Devonshire. Arms: Sable, 3 stags' (or bucks') heads caboshed (or cabossed). Crest: A serpent nowed proper (or vert). Supporters: On either side, a buck (or stag) wreathed (or gorged) about the neck with a chaplet (or garland) of roses proper—but see note! Motto: Cavendo tutus, Safe through caution. NOTE: The stags' head are sometimes given as attired Or; for example, [1]. The garlands should be roses alternately argent and azure (see the preceding, [2], and the next). At least the 6th duke substituted as a crest a buck statant wreathed as the supporters (see the 1836 Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland, viewable via Google Books).

Other titles (5th & 6th Dukes): Baron Clifford (1628)

Other titles (7th Duke onwards): Earl of Burlington and Baron Cavendish of Keighley, in the county of York (1831)

The heir apparent is the present holder's only son, William "Bill Burlington" Cavendish, Earl of Burlington (born 1969), married to Laura Montagu (née Roundell). Lord Burlington, although entitled to use the courtesy title Marquess of Hartington has continued to be styled by the Burlington title since his father succeeded as 12th Duke.[citation needed] The heir-in-line is Lord Burlington's second child and only son, James, Lord Cavendish (born 15 December 2010).[citation needed]

Family tree

Line of succession (simplified)

Line of succession (simplified)[11]

Earls of Devonshire

The earldom of Devonshire was originally granted as a recreation of the title held by the last Baron Mountjoy, which became extinct on his death in 1606.[citation needed]

It is a separate

Courtenay family
.

In fiction

The fifth Duke and Duchess of Devonshire are portrayed in the 2008 film

Amanda Foreman's biography of the scandalous 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (portrayed by Keira Knightley) and her relationship with the Duke (Ralph Fiennes) and his next wife, Lady Elizabeth Foster
.

Along with

Stephanie Barron
.

In John Buchan's novel The Three Hostages (1924), 'the late Duke of Devonshire' is cited as an epitome of Englishness. This probably refers to the eighth duke.

In the episode 'The Man in the Killer Suit' in the 2014 TV series Forever, a case occurs where someone masquerades as a 'viscount cavendish'. While the title is wrongly used, other references during the episode show that they are in fact referring to the Dukes of Devonshire.

See also

Further reading

  • Pearson, John. The Serpent and the Stag. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1984.

References

  1. ^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.355
  2. ^ a b c "Obituary: The Duke of Devonshire". The Daily Telegraph. 5 May 2004. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  3. ^ Moore, Charles (8 May 2004). "If a duke doesn't put on a show, he's not doing his job properly". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  4. ISBN 9780701186241
    .
  5. ^ Magna Britannia. Vol. 5. T Cadell and W Davies, London. 1817.
  6. ^ "European Heraldry :: House of Cavendish (Devonshire)". europeanheraldry.org. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  7. ^ "The Cavendish Family- Dukes of Devonshire". cheshirenow.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  8. ^ The Duchess
  9. ^ "Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Attendants". users.uniserve.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. ^ H. Evans, 'Cavendish', Our old nobility (Рипол Классик), 132.
  11. ISBN 978-1-9997-6705-1
    .

Sources

External links

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