Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire


Peregrine Andrew Morny Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire, is an English peer. He is the only surviving son of Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire and his wife, the former Deborah Mitford. He succeeded to the dukedom following the death of his father on 3 May 2004. Prior to this succession, he was styled Marquess of Hartington. His immediate family are owner-occupiers of Chatsworth House and are worth an estimated £800 million. Estates landscaped before 1900 by the family are parts of Derbyshire and North Yorkshire. Other capital managed by the Duke includes fine and contemporary art, forestry and farming.

Education

He attended Eton College and Exeter College, Oxford, where he read History.

Horse racing

The Duke is well known in the world of horse racing and served as Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot and chairman of Ascot Racecourse Ltd. In 1980 he was elected to the Jockey Club and in 1989 he was appointed its Senior Steward. During his five-year term of office, he oversaw a number of changes within the racing industry, in particular the creation of the British Horseracing Board which is now the governing authority for British racing. He was appointed first chairman of the board in June 1993 and retired at the end of his term in 1996. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to racing in 1997 and Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 2009 New Year Honours for his services as Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot.

Other interests

He was appointed a Trustee of the Wallace Collection in 2007. He is a trustee of Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust. He is Chairman of the Devonshire Arms Hotel Group, a chain of countryside hotels in North Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's. He collects modern British and contemporary painting and sculpture, as well as works in other areas, many of which are on display at his family seat Chatsworth House. The Duke and Duchess and the house and estate grounds were featured in the BBC documentary series Chatsworth. In December 2012, he sold Auxiliary cartoon for the Head of a Young Apostle by Raphael for £29.7m at a Sotheby's auction. As of 2016 he is the owner of Heywood Hill, a notable bookstore in London.
He took up the position as the third Chancellor of the University of Derby at a ceremony on 28 October 2008 in Buxton.
The Duke is a current patron of St Wilfrid's Hospice in Eastbourne.
The range of Cavendish Pianos were named after the family name of the Duke to recognise his support which was critical to the establishment of the new firm.
He was the third Chancellor of the University of Derby from 2008 to March 2018. He stepped down from the role in 2018 and his son and heir, William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington was nominated and installed as the fourth and current Chancellor of the University in March 2018.

Family

On 28 June 1967 the future Duke married Amanda Carmen Heywood-Lonsdale, daughter of Commander Edward Gavin Heywood-Lonsdale and a descendant of Arthur Heywood-Lonsdale.
They have three children - Lord Burlington, Lady Celina, and Lady Jasmine - as well as ten grandchildren.

Titles, honours and arms

Possibility of renouncing title

In February 2010, the Duke announced his intention to give up his title if hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords, on the basis that "the aristocracy is dead" and "because then it would be clear-cut what the people wanted, and it would be confusing to maintain hereditary titles". This mirrored the view of his mother, who had said "titles are meaningless because peers are no longer legislators". This was dismissed as "nonsense" by Lord Ferrers, who disagreed with the Duke's claims that the aristocracy was dead. It is not known how serious he was in his intention, but if he had gone ahead with his threat then he would have been known as "Sir Peregrine Cavendish, KCVO, CBE".

Honours