William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire (27 December 1552 – 3 March 1626) was an English nobleman, politician, and courtier.
Early life
William Cavendish was the second son of
Sir William Cavendish and
Bess of Hardwick. He was educated with the children of
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, whom his mother married after his father's death. She made him a rich allowance in his youth. He then entered
Clare College, Cambridge.
Career
He was
M.P.
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Liverpool in 1586 and
Newport (Cornwall) in 1588. He was appointed
High Sheriff of Derbyshire, where the estates of his family lay, for 1595 and
justice of the peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
in 1603. He was created Baron Cavendish of Hardwick in 1605, thanks to the representations of his niece,
Arbella Stuart.
He participated in the colonisation of the
Bermudas
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Devonshire Parish Devonshire Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. Originally named ''Cavendish Tribe'' and later Devonshire Tribe, for William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire (1552–1626). ''Devonshire Redoubt'', on Castle Island, one of the Castle Har ...
was called after him; he also was a supporter of
colonising Virginia.
His mother's death in 1608, and his elder brother
Henry's death in 1616, gave him a vast fortune. He was in attendance on James I in a progress in
Wiltshire in 1618, and on 2 August was created Earl of Devonshire, while the court was staying at the Bishop of Salisbury's palace; he was reported to have paid £10,000 for the title.
Death and legacy
He died on 3 March 1626, and was buried at
St Peter's Church, Edensor
St Peter's Church, Edensor, is a Grade I listed church in Edensor, Derbyshire. St Peter's is the closest parish church in the Church of England to Chatsworth House, home of the Dukes of Devonshire, most of whom are buried in the churchyard. St P ...
. The 1st Earl of Devonshire and his brother Henry (died 1616) are commemorated through the Cavendish Memorial inside the church, a magnificent early-17th-century
church monument
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...
.
Family
His first wife was Anne Kighley or Keighley, daughter of Henry Kighley of
Keighley,
Yorkshire, circa 21 March 1580. They had three sons and three daughters, including:
*
William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire (c. 1590–1628)
* Frances Cavendish (c. 1593–1613), married
William Maynard, 1st Baron Maynard
* Gilbert, who has been credited with the authorship of ''Horae Subsecivae'' (see
Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos), died young
* James, died in infancy
Cavendish's second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Boughton of Couston,
Warwickshire, widow of Sir Richard Wortley of
Wortley,
Yorkshire, by whom he had a son, John, made a knight of the Bath when Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales in 1618. Sir John died on 18 January 1618.
References
History of Parliament CAVENDISH, William II (1551–1626) of Chatsworth and Hardwick, Derbys
;Attribution
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1552 births
1626 deaths
17th-century English nobility
Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Liverpool
Earls of Devonshire (1618 creation)
Lord-Lieutenants of Derbyshire
William Cavendish, 01st Earl of Devonshire
Cavendish, William
Cavendish, William
Cavendish, William
Cavendish, William
People from Derbyshire
16th-century English nobility
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