Richard Frederick Cavendish Vanity Fair 1900-04-26

Lord Richard Frederick Cavendish, (31 January 1871 – 7 January 1946), known as Richard Cavendish until 1908, was a British

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

, author, magistrate, and politician.

Background and education

A prominent figure from the Cavendish family, he was a younger son of Lord Edward Cavendish, third son of the

7th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, (27 April 1808 – 21 December 1891), styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor, nobleman, ...

. The 8th Duke of Devonshire was his uncle and the

9th Duke of Devonshire Victor Christian William Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (31 May 18686 May 1938), known as Victor Cavendish until 1908, was a British peer and politician who served as Governor General of Canada. A member of the Cavendish family, he was ed ...

his elder brother. His mother was Emma Elizabeth, daughter of the Hon.

William Lascelles William Saunders Sebright Lascelles PC (29 October 1798 – 2 July 1851) was a British Whig politician. He served as Comptroller of the Household from 1847 to 1851. Background Lascelles was the third son of Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Hare ...

. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Pitt Club.

Political career

Cavendish was elected in the 1895 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

North Lonsdale The Lonsdale Hundred is an historic hundred of Lancashire, England. Although named after the dale or valley of the River Lune, which runs through the city of Lancaster, for centuries it covered most of the north-western part of Lancashire ...

. He

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

from being a supporter of the Liberal Unionists to being a member of the Liberal Party in 1904. Therefore, he was one of the few Liberal MPs who lost their seat in the 1906 election. In December 1908 he was appointed chairman of the Royal Commission on Systems of Election, with the mandate "to secure a fully representative character for popularly elected legislative bodies" and "to consider whether, and how far, they, or any of them, are capable of application in this country in regard to the existing electorate". The commission reported in 1910, recommending the abolition of two member constituencies "as soon as possible"; this was implemented. The commission also recommended the adoption of an

alternative vote system Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

, which was not implemented. In 1911 Cavendish was on Prime Minister Asquith's list of peers in case the Parliament Act 1911 was not passed by the House of Lords and was admitted to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1912. As President of the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society, Cavendish visited Lancaster in 1925. He was the Lord of the Manor, residing at Holker Hall (where his descendants remain to this day) and owned the Swan Hotel at Newby Bridge. He was an active

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and a keen golfer.

Family

Cavendish married Lady Moyra, daughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans, in 1895. They had two sons and five daughters. Ordinarily, as the male-line grandson of a duke he would not be entitled to use the prefix "Lord" before his Christian name, but because his elder brother Victor Cavendish, succeeded as the 9th Duke of Devonshire in 1908, he was elevated to the rank of a son of a duke along with his younger brother Lord John Cavendish. His grandson Lord Cavendish of Furness is third in line to succeed his cousin Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire as Duke of Devonshire after William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington and his son.

References

External links

*
Royal Commission on Systems of Election

His portraits at the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavendish, Richard, Lord 1871 births 1946 deaths Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Eton College Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Deputy Lieutenants in England English justices of the peace Younger sons of dukes UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Richard Cavendish