Henry Cavendish (politician)

The Right Honourable Sir Henry Hardwick Cavendish
Unknown Tudor Gentleman, possibly Henry Cavendish
Member of Parliament for Derbyshire
In office 1572–1596
Preceded by	Robert Wennersley
Succeeded by	John Harpur
Personal details
Born	1550 Derbyshire
Died	12 October 1616 Chatsworth, Derbyshire
Parent(s)	William Cavendish, Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury

Sir Henry Hardwick Cavendish (1550–1616) was the eldest son of the Tudor courtier William Cavendish, and Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury (c. 1527–1608), known as "Bess of Hardwick". Queen Elizabeth the 1st was his godmother. He served in the Netherlands as a captain in 1578; conducted several trade expeditions across Europe and the Near East (Constantinople), and served as MP for Derbyshire five times. Cavendish was disinherited by his mother (who held his wardship after his father's death) after a complete breakdown in their relationship due to his friendship with Mary Queen of Scots and support for his niece, Arabella Stuart. After his mother's death in 1608 Cavendish inherited the Chatsworth from his fathers estate, but not its contents. He sold it to his brother William, who later became the 1st Earl of Devonshire, the following year.

Henry and his wife, Lady Grace Talbot Cavendish, daughter of the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury had no surviving legitimate heir. Henry did father a number of illegitimate children.

His eldest son, Henry, married Bridget Willoughby. From this couple descend the Barons Cavendish of Doveridge ( Later the Barons of Waterpark) and the American family branch of William Hunter Henderson Cavendish, who migrated to Warm Springs, Virginia, USA, second son of Sir Henry John Cavendish, Baronet Cavendish of Dove.

Early life

Henry Cavendish's father, William Cavendish, possibly painted by John Bettes the Elder.

Henry Cavendish was born in Dec 1550, the eldest son of the politician and courtier Sir William Cavendish and Lady Bess of Hardwick. His father died on 25 October 1557, when the young Henry was only 6 years old. He was raised with his younger brother William at Chatsworth House, which was completed by his mother in the 1560s, where she lived with her fourth husband, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Henry was christened in December1550 and his godparents included Lady Elizabeth Tudor, half-sister to the King ( she became Queen Elizabeth the I). Also godparents: Dorset (soon Duke of Suffolk) and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, Duke of Northumberland.

On 9 February 1568, at the age of 17, Cavendish married Grace Talbot, the eight-year-old daughter of his stepfather. The marriage took place at The Cathedral of Saint Peter, Sheffield, York, England.

Henry was immediately sent abroad with his brother in law and lifelong friend, Gilbert Talbot. From Grace's letters to Lady Bess it seems she held affection for her husband but suffered from their perpetual state of financial insecurity. They had no surviving children.

Upon attaining his majority, Cavendish received the income from the lands settled upon him by his father, income which had until then gone to his mother, who had been granted his wardship.

Education

At 10 years old, Henry Cavendish attended Eton in 1560, four years after his father death.

He also received private tutoring and entered Gray's Inn by 1566-67.

To complete his education Cavendish was sent abroad in 1567, (immediately following his marriage to his stepfather’s eight year-old daughter). He travelled to Germany, Padua, and Venice with his brother-in-law Gilbert Talbot, later 7th Earl of Shrewsbury.

The diary of his journey still survives among the Hardwick manuscripts. Among other colourful descriptions he described the city of Venice as "a most foul stinking sink".

He returned to England, entered politics, and resumed family life by 1575.

Career

The Cavendish Memorial in St Peter's Church, Edensor

Military service

As a young man Cavendish "won repute as a soldier", serving his country as a captain in the Netherlands in 1578, during the Dutch Revolt. Cavendish led a force of around 500 men, mostly from his family estates, successfully fighting off an attack by Spanish tercios led by Don Juan of Austria during the Battle of Rijmenam. War, however, was costly, and the expense of campaigning in the Netherlands was likely the initial cause of his considerable debts, which amounted to £3,000 by 1584.

Politics

Cavendish entered politics in his early twenties, becoming the Member of Parliament for the County of Derbyshire for over 20 years. He returned to office five times in five successive elections, in 1575, 1584, 1586, 1589 and 1593. This remarkable record of success may have been supported by the influence of his stepfather, the Earl of Shrewsbury. Record of his contribution in the Parliamentary journals is limited, raising the question of his actual interest in politics and government. However, as a Member of the British Parliament- Knight of the Shire- he sat on a committee of the house in March 1575 (Journals of the House of Commons, i. 110), and again in Dec. 1584. (Simonds D'Ewes, Journals of all the parliaments during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, p. 340.) He was subsequently appointed to subsidy committees on 24 Feb. 1585, 11 Feb. 1589 and 26 Feb. 1593, and to a legal committee 9 Mar. 1593.

Mary Queen of Scots

In about 1585, Cavendish was living at Tutbury Castle when the Tudor courtier Amias Paulet was making arrangements for Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots to be sent there. Cavendish, knowing the formidable cost to his father in laws estate during his tenure as keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots between 1568 and 1585, was reluctant to make way for the royal prisoner without reimbursement. He asked £100 a year for the use of the house, or as an alternative, that Queen Elizabeth I should lend him £2,000 towards the repayment of his debts. Paulet reported to the Queen that "this is his final answer....and within reason" but added that "It may be, although he doth not say it, that he will be content with the loan of £1,500". Both Henry, and Grace his wife, had soon befriended the Scottish Queen.

Travels in the East and European Trade Expeditions

Inspired by the travels of his youth, as well as recognising the potential for trade, Henry embarked on a journey to Portugal in 1579.

In 1589, he was commissioned by his mother and father in law, to conduct a trade expedition to Constantinople.

His servant-companion Mr. Fox, kept an account of this journey now published as Mr. Harrie Cavendish, his Journey To and From Constantinople, 1589 Fox, His Servant

These trips proved successful to forward the Earl of Shrewsbury's extensive mineral trade interests and his mother's investments in the glass industry. They also supplied his Lady Mother, "Building Bess", with some of the finest furnishings in England for the magnificent homes she designed. Henry is said to have had an eye for high quality design himself and returned with many Chinese silks, Persian and Anatolian carpets and Gujarati embroidered bed-covers.

Personal life

Despite being the eldest son, Cavendish was later disinherited by his mother, from whom he had become estranged. When her marriage to her fourth husband, the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, fell into difficulties, Cavendish sided with his stepfather against his mother. His subsequent friendship with Mary Queen of Scots ( his mother's nemesis after she reputedly seduced her husband) infuriated Bess of Hardwick who referred to her eldest as "my bad son Henry". The assistance he then offered to his niece, Arabella Stuart, in a botched rescue attempt, along with Stapleton, a Yorkshire catholic, was the last straw. His mother maintained her tight control over her granddaughter Arabella as a potential contender to the throne, Both he and Arabella were entirely written out of Lady Bess's will from this time. Instead, his younger brother William was favoured, and later became the First Earl of Devonshire, inheriting those vast estates his mother controlled.

Henry was suspected later of involvement in the Bye and Main Plot, which led James I to arrest H. Brooke, Lord Cobham and Walter Raleigh. Nothing was proven, however, and Henry Cavendish remained free.

Hot headed Henry did receive an order on 30th of May 1592 to desist from hostility in a private armed feud that ensued between himself and William Agard. Both had engaged in pitched battle via their private armies until Henry's brother in law, Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury intervened, asking the privy council that 'all matters of quarrell and pyke betwyxt them and theyrs' should be adjudicated by Robert Devereux earl of Essex, and himself." Peace was restored.

Reportedly unhappy in his marriage, and free spirited, Cavendish pursued extra-marital liaisons. He was popularly known as "the common bull of Derbyshire and Staffordshire". He fathered at least 8 illegitimate children, including:

• Henry Cavendish, Esquire (1576-1624). Henry married Bridget Willoughby 14th October, 1610. She was the daughter of SIr Percival and Lady Bridget Willoughby of Wollaton Hall, Nottingham. From this couple descend the Barons Cavendish of Doveridge (Later the Barons of Waterpark), and the American family branch of William Hunter Henderson Cavendish, who migrated to Warm Springs, Virginia, USA, second son of Sir Henry John Cavendish, Baronet Cavendish of Dove.
• Anne (Cavendish) Lowe. Anne married Vincent Lowe, Esq., of Denby, Derbyshire, sometime before 1614, and had a large family. Her grandson Colonel Henry Lowe emigrated to Maryland and became a planter and politician.

Bess of Hardwick died on 13 February 1608, and it appears that Cavendish did not attend his mother's funeral. Long estranged, he received nothing from her in her will. However, he did inherit Chatsworth from his fathers estate after his mother's death, but without its contents, a hard blow for one who had chosen and supplied so much of it. As a result, and in order to pay off his debts, he sold the estate intact to his brother William the following year. William allowed he and Grace to live at Chatsworth until the time of Henry's death in 1616. Henry is buried at his brothers side.

Death and legacy

Cavendish died on 12 October 1616 at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England. The Cavendish Memorial, a magnificent early-17th-century church monument to Henry and his brother William, may have been designed by their mother prior to her death. It can be seen in St Peter's Church, Edensor, Derbyshire, where he is buried. Henry is symbolically depicted by his armour which hangs on the wall as well as the startlingly life like bare bones of his effigy indicating his disavowal of his mothers values and resistance to participate in her dynastic agenda. It may be that Lady Bess was attempting to shame him beyond the grave....or it may well refer to Henry's own sense of humour; a final act of defiance to conformity.

The Latin inscription for the two brothers on the church monument provides fascinating insight into their lives indicating both stark contrast and a strong fraternal bond:

SACRED to the Memory of Henry,

eldest son of William Cavendish,

Knight of Chatsworth, in the County of Derby, and of the much celebrated

Elizabeth Hardwick of Hardwick, in the same County, who afterwards

married her fourth husband, George Earl of Shrewsbury.

He was a strenuous and brave man, and particularly distinguished himself

among the English Volunteer Commanders in the campaign in the Netherlands,

in the year 1578, in which he displayed perseverance, skill, diligence,

activity, and fortitude.

When however his military engagements gave place to the enjoyment of ease,

he indulged in the liberal and sumptuous use of his fortune

in such a manner as to retain the character of splendour and festivity

and to avoid the reproach of luxurious indolence.

His Arms and Armour being deposited in this County,

and fixed in the wall, his Body lies here awaiting instead of the Clarion of Fame

the Trumpet of the Resurrection.

He died the 12th day of October in the year of our Lord 1616.

SACRED to the Memory of William Cavendish

the second son of the same parents, who also here put off his earthly dress.

He was a man born to fill every honourable Station,

and in the simplicity of his virtues deserving rather than courting Glory.

Whom when James the 1st of Blessed Memory, King of Great Britain,

had honoured with the Titles first of Baron Hardwick,

and afterwards Earl of Devonshire, he appeared not so much to

do Honour to the man as to the title, with what Wisdom, Integrity, and Applause,

he sustained the Duties of his Province; Common Fame is seldom false.

He was not only the best man of his own but of every age,

nor can his character be suppressed or spoken of without difficulty.

He was capable of the utmost diligence and of unsullied faith,

with the appearance of the greatest indolence.

He claimed no Honour and yet obtained all.

To Him having ordered that he might be buried

without splendour and in a plain grave,

this Monument is erected with an affection greater than its expense.

He died the third of March in the year of our Lord 1625.

References

• D. J. B. Trim, ‘Cavendish, Henry (1550–1616)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 25 Sept 2017. This is a subscription site but access is free to readers of British libraries whose library subscribes.
• Dictionary of National Biography (Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900) http://search.Ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=dictnatbiogv1&h=83215&ti=5544&indiv=try&gss=pt Death: 1616
• Cavendish, Margaret. The Life of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (John Russell Smith, London, 1872) Page 196-7
• Henry Cavendish at the History of Parliament retrieved 7 August 2018