Henry Cavendish (British Army officer)


Hon. Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish was a British Army officer, politician and courtier.

Early life and career

Cavendish was born in Westminster, the third son of George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington and Lady Elizabeth Compton, daughter and heiress of the 7th Earl of Northampton. Cavendish was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 10th Dragoons in 1808 and was deployed to Spain and was wounded at the Battle of Corunna in January 1809 during the Peninsular War. In 1812 he entered Parliament for Derby, a seat which he held until 1834. In 1837, he was appointed Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal to Queen Victoria, but resigned the post in 1841. On 2 June 1853 he was appointed colonel of The Queen's Bays, a post he held until his death. He was promoted to major-general in 1846, lieutenant-general in 1854 and full general in 1862.

Marriages and issue

He married three times:
Firstly, on 24 October 1811, he married Sarah Fawkener, daughter of William Augustus Fawkener. They had four children:
On 16 June 1819, he married secondly, Frances Susan Lambton, daughter of William Henry Lambton and widow of Frederick Howard, and had six children:
On 28 January 1873, he married Susanna Emma Byerlie, but died two months later.