William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire | |
---|---|
250px | |
Born | circa 1590 |
Died | 20 June 1628 |
Spouse(s) | Christian Bruce |
Children | Anne Cavendish William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire Charles Cavendish |
Parent(s) | William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire Anne Keighley |
William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire (c. 1590 – 20 June 1628) was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1614 until 1626 when he succeeded to the peerage and sat in the House of Lords.
Contents
Life
Cavendish was the second son of William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire, by his first wife Anne Keighley. He was educated by Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher, who lived at Chatsworth as his private tutor for many years. He was knighted at Whitehall in 1609. He was accompanied by Hobbes on the Grand Tour from about 1610, when he visited France and Italy before his coming of age. He was a leader of court society, and an intimate friend of James I, and Hobbes praised his learning in the dedication of his translation of Thucydides.
In 1614, Cavendish was elected Member of Parliament for Derbyshire. He became Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire in 1619. In 1621 he was re-elected MP for Derbyshire. In April 1622 he introduced to audiences with the king Schwarzenburg, ambassador from the Emperor Ferdinand, Valerssio from Venice, and d'Arsennes and Joachimi from the United Provinces. He was re-elected MP for Derbyshire in 1624 and 1625. In 1625 he was present at Charles I's marriage with Henrietta Maria. He was high bailiff of Tutbury in 1626 and was re-elected MP for Derbyshire in 1626, until the death of his father early in 1626 gave him a seat in the House of Lords. In the Lords, he resisted George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham's attempt to find a treasonable meaning on a speech of Sir Dudley Digges (13 May 1626).
Cavendish's spending strained his resources, and he procured a private act of parliament to enable him to sell some of the entailed estates in discharge of his debts in 1628. His London house was in Bishopsgate, on the site afterwards occupied by Devonshire Square.
Cavendish died at his London house, from over-indulgence it was said, at the age of about 35 and was buried in Allhallows Church, Derby.
Family
Cavendish married Christian(a) Bruce, daughter of Edward Bruce, 1st Lord Kinloss,[1] on 10 April 1608. They had three children:
- Anne Cavendish (c. 1611–?), married Robert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick and had issue.
- William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire (1617–1684)
- Charles Cavendish (1620–1643)
Notes
- ↑ Pearson, John, The Serpent and the Stag, (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983), 44.
References
- Pearson, John, The Serpent and the Stag, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Parliament of England | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by
Sir John Harpur
William Kniveton |
Member of Parliament for Derbyshire 1614–1626 With: Henry Howard 1614 Sir Peter Fretchville 1621–1622 John Stanhope 1624–1625 John Manners 1626 |
Succeeded by Sir Edward Leeke John Frescheville |
Honorary titles | ||
Vacant
Title last held by
The Earl of Shrewsbury |
Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire jointly with The Earl of Devonshire 1619–1626 1619–1628 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Newcastle |
Peerage of England | ||
Preceded by | Earl of Devonshire 1626–1628 |
Succeeded by William Cavendish |
- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- Use British English from August 2012
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- 1590s births
- 1628 deaths
- Earls in the Peerage of England
- Lord-Lieutenants of Derbyshire
- People from Derbyshire
- Cavendish family
- People of the Stuart period
- English MPs 1614
- English MPs 1621–22
- English MPs 1624–25
- English MPs 1625
- English MPs 1626