Cavendish family


The Cavendish family is a British noble family, of Anglo-Norman origins. They rose to their highest prominence as the dukes of Devonshire and Newcastle.
Leading branches have held high offices in English then British politics, especially since the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the participation of William Cavendish, then-earl of Devonshire, in the Invitation to William, though the family appears to date to the Norman Conquest of England, with Cavendish being used as a surname per se since the beginning of the 13th century. As a place-name, it is first recorded in 1086.

Early history

As a place-name, it is first recorded as Kavandisc in 1086 in the Domesday Book, and appears to have a meaning of 'Cafna's Pasture', from personal byname Cafa/Cafna, and edisc 'enclosed pasture'. By 1201, it was in use as the surname de Cavendis, recurring in 1242 as Cavenedis, and again in 1302 as de Cavendish. Various early records of Anglo-Norman nobility suggest that the family was founded by a Robert Gernon or Guernon of Montfiquet, granted lands and titles in this area for his service during the Conquest, and that the family is closely related to those that later used the surnames Gernon and de Montfichet. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants summarizes the history thus:
The de Montfichet line of Essex, Middlesex, and London appears to have become extinct in 1258 with the death without heirs of Magna Carta witness Richard de Montfichet, though the name survived in place names. Gernon survives as a surname in England, Ireland, and abroad ; it dates in England with the Gernon spelling to at least Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, a descendant of Robert de Guernon, the baron from Mountfiquet who as a companions-at-arms of William the Conqueror received more than 50 manor houses, baronies, and other domains in England, including apparently Cavendish. As a noble family, they were landed in Essex, Suffolk, and Derby. Guernon survives as a French surname, including with noble connections to at least the 19th century in the same Calvados region of Normandy, especially Ranville, Ouistreham, and the eponymous Fauguernon. It is claimed ultimately to be derived from Rollon, the French name of the Viking who effectively became the first Duke of Normandy; if true, this would make the overall family one of the oldest Norman lineages.
The philosopher Thomas Hobbes was employed as a tutor by the Cavendish family and educated various members of the family.

From the Glorious Revolution onward

After missing nation-leading and internationally definitive largesse and empire-building in Charles II's five-peer acronym of the Cabal ministry, William Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire, was the first of the name to rise to duke, at age 27. He co-wrote the 1688 Invitation to William to exclude Catholics from the monarchy, which set in motion the Glorious Revolution in that year. The Invitation's authors were later known as "the Immortal Seven". This pre-dated the Spencer-Churchills' centrality under campaigns against the Catholic pretenders to the throne.
High appointments were often won by senior title holders and some juniors among the Cavendishes, from 1688 until about 1887, and marked the family's ascendancy, along with the Marquesses of Salisbury and the Earls of Derby. The notable lines descend from Sir John of Cavendish in the county of Suffolk. Other peerages included the Dukedom of Newcastle; Barony of Waterpark ; the Barony of Chesham ; and through a daughter marrying into the Bentinck family, the Dukedom of Portland.
Concessions to populists of post-imperial meritocracy movements shifted power to industrialism and to the House of Commons. The 1911, 1958, 1963, and 1999 transformations of the House of Lords permanently ended key influence by Cavendish and many other British noble families. Under primogeniture, the senior branches of these families still dominate in inter-family wealth and titles.
The head of the modern family is Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire, whose Georgian mansion, Chatsworth House, in the Peak District attracts many visitors with its gardens, iconic high-jet fountain, Capability Brown grounds, and fine-art collection. Among its past urban assets with lasting influence, this branch of the family had a large house in London, on which many grand apartments and houses now stand, including Devonshire Square.

Notable members

The explorer Thomas Cavendish "the Navigator" was descended from Roger Cavendish, Sir John Cavendish's brother.
The 3rd to 9th Dukes of Portland were descended from the Cavendish family through the female line, and took the surname Cavendish-Bentinck or a variant thereof. Their principal seat, Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire, came to them through the Cavendish connection.