William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle
PC | |
---|---|
Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire | |
In office 1660–1676 | |
Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire | |
In office 1628–1638 | |
MP for East Retford | |
In office 1614–1620 | |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 16 December 1593 Henry, 2nd Duke of Newcastle (1630–1691) Frances |
Parent(s) | Sir Charles and Lady Catherine Cavendish |
Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Courtier, arts patron, soldier |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Royalists |
Years of service | 1642—1644 |
Commands | Royalist commander for the North |
Battles/wars | |
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne,
Despite spending the then enormous sum of £15,000 entertaining Charles I in 1634, he failed to gain a significant political post. In the early stages of the First English Civil War, he was appointed Royalist Captain-General in Northern England; he financed much of the war effort himself, later claiming this totalled in excess of £1,000,000. After the defeat at Marston Moor in July 1644, a battle fought against his advice, he went into exile in Europe.
He returned to England after the Stuart Restoration in 1660, and although created Duke of Newcastle in 1665, he remained on the fringes of the court and became critical of Charles II. He died in 1676 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.[1]
Personal details
William Cavendish was born at
In 1618, Cavendish married Elizabeth Howard (1599–1643), with whom he had five children –
Career
Created a
As tension increased, both Charles and Parliament tried to secure key ports and weapons; an attempt by Newcastle to capture Hull in July failed. When Charles formally declared war in August, Newcastle was given command of the four northern counties, largely because he was willing to pay for his own troops. In November 1642, he advanced into Yorkshire, raised the siege of York, and forced Lord Fairfax to retire after attacking him at Tadcaster.[5]
Fighting continued during the winter, as Newcastle tried to secure a landing place for an arms convoy organised by
The 1643 Solemn League and Covenant had created a Committee of Both Kingdoms, which for the first time co-ordinated Parliamentary strategy in all three war zones, England, Scotland and Ireland. In February 1644, the Scots under Leven besieged Newcastle, closing the major import point for Royalist war supplies. They made little progress, with the Marquess-based nearby at Durham.[7]
Two weeks later, the Earl of Manchester defeated a Royalist force at Selby. Newcastle had to leave Durham, and garrison York, which city was besieged by the Scots, Sir Thomas Fairfax, and Manchester's Army of the Eastern Association.[8] In May, Prince Rupert left Shrewsbury and marched north; on 29 June he arrived at Knaresborough, 30 kilometres from York, to find he was faced by a superior force.[9] Despite Newcastle's opposition, the largest battle of the war took place on 2 July at Marston Moor. The result was a decisive Royalist defeat that lost them the North, while York surrendered on 16 July.[10]
As a military commander,
The new Marchioness was a
Newcastle left in 1648 for
Restoration
Restoration of Marquis of Newcastle Act 1660 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act for restoring unto William Marquis of Newcastle, all his Honours, Manors, Lands, and Tenements, in England, whereof he was in Possession on the 20th Day of May, 1640, or at any Time since. |
Citation | 12 Cha. 2. c. 4 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 13 September 1660 |
After the 1660
He retired, however, from politics and occupied himself with his estate and with his favourite pursuit of training horses. He established a racecourse near Welbeck, and in this period his grace composed his second work on horsemanship, a sequel to his previous work. Relying on the historical truth that dukedoms were originally the preserve of royalty, Newcastle and his wife began to refer to themselves as Prince and Princess respectively. This assumed title appears in the full title of his second work of literature.[15] In his later years, he suffered from Parkinson's disease, and the sudden death of his second wife was a blow from which he never recovered. With John Dryden's assistance he translated Molière's L'Etourdi as Sir Martin Mar-all (1688). He contributed scenes to his wife's plays, and poems of his composition are to be found among her works.[5]
Cavendish was the patron of, among others, Jonson, Shirley, Davenant, Dryden, Shadwell and Flecknoe, and of Hobbes, Gassendi and Descartes.[5] During their stay in Antwerp, the Cavendishes had a music chapel of 5 musicians. They were acquainted with several of the contemporary English composers, and Newcastle's library contained a substantial collection of music of these composers.[16]
The department of
Works by William Cavendish
- Méthode et invention nouvelle de dresser les chevaux (1658)
- A New Method and Extraordinary Invention to Dress Horses and Work them according to Nature... (1667)
- (in French) La methode et inuention nouuelle de dresser les cheuaux par le tres-noble, haut, et tres-puissant prince Guillaume marquis et comte de Newcastle ..., 1658.
Plays:
- The Country Captain, or Captain Underwit (printed 1649)
- The Varietie (printed 1649)
- The Humorous Lovers (performed 1667, printed 1677)
- The Triumphant Widow (performed 1674, printed 1677)
References
- ^ Stanley, A.P., Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey (London; John Murray; 1882), p. 242.
- ^ a b c Hulse 2011.
- ^ Team, Project Vox. "Cavendish (1623-1673)". Project Vox. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "CAVENDISH, Sir William II (1593-1676), of Welbeck Abbey, Notts. and Clerkenwell, Mdx". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 470.
- ^ Royle 2004, p. 275.
- ^ Royle 2004, p. 283.
- ^ Wedgwood 1958, p. 308.
- ^ Royle 2004, pp. 289–290.
- ^ Royle 2004, pp. 295–299.
- ^ Royle 2004, pp. 264–265.
- ^ Wedgwood 1958, p. 407.
- ISBN 90-8586-014-8, October 2006.
- ^ Cavendish, Margaret (1886), The Life of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, New York: Scribner & Welford, p. 150
- ^ Hattersley 2013, p. 139.
- ^ Amorous in Music: William Cavendish in Antwerp (1648–1660), Klara CD No. 34, KTC 4019 (2006)
Sources
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Newcastle, Dukes of s.v. William Cavendish". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 470–471. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ISBN 9780701186241. biography
- Hulse, Lynn (2011). "Cavendish, William, first duke of Newcastle upon Tyne". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4946. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Royle, Trevor (2004). Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638–1660 (2006 ed.). Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11564-1.
- ISBN 978-0-33322-760-2. biography
- ISBN 978-0141390727.
- ISBN 978-0571227037. biography
External links
- Cavendish Plays Online. Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Biography of William Cavendish, with links to online catalogues, from the website of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham
- La methode et inuention nouuelle de dresser les cheuaux par le tres-noble, haut, et tres-puissant prince Guillaume marquis et comte de Newcastle ..., 1658.
- Works by William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)