Lord Richard Cavendish (19 June 1752 – 7 September 1781) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the second son of

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (8 May 1720 – 2 October 1764), styled Lord Cavendish before 1729, and Marquess of Hartington between 1729 and 1755, was a British Whig statesman and nobleman who was briefly nominal Prime Minister of ...

and his wife, Charlotte. His sister Dorothy later married British Prime Minister

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (14 April 173830 October 1809) was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig and then a Tories (British political party), Tory politician during the late Georgian era. He s ...

. Cavendish was educated in Hackney and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. In 1773, he entered the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

as MP for Lancaster after winning a by-election on 15 September following the death of the incumbent Francis Reynolds. At this time, he moved to No. 1

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

, London, where he resided until 1781. He was one of the few attendees at his brother

Devonshire Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the wes ...

's wedding in 1774. In 1778 and 1779, he served with the navy as a gentleman volunteer. In 1781, he went abroad in hopes of recovering his failing health; but he continued to decline and died unmarried in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavendish, Richard, Lord 1752 births 1781 deaths Younger sons of dukes Younger sons of barons Children of prime ministers of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Richard Cavendish Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge