William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire

William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire

William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, KG, PC, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (26 September 1698 – 5 December 1755) was a British nobleman and Whig politician, the son of William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire and the Hon. Rachel Russell.

He married Catherine Hoskins (or Hoskyn) (d. 8 May 1777) on 27 March 1718. They had seven children:

• Lady Caroline Cavendish (22 May 1719 – 20 January 1760), married William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough and had issue.
• William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (1720 – 2 October 1764)
• Lord George Augustus Cavendish (d. 2 May 1794), died unmarried.
• Lady Elizabeth Cavendish (bef. 1727–1796), married Hon. John Ponsonby and had issue.
• Field Marshal Lord Frederick Cavendish (c. 1729 – 21 October 1803), died unmarried.
• Lord John Cavendish (c. 1734–1796)
• Lady Rachel Cavendish (7 June 1727 - 8 May 1805), married Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford.

Like his father, the 3rd Duke was active in politics, and served for seven years as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was also a Member of Parliament from 1721 until his father's death sent him to the House of Lords in 1729.

He was made a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1731, and served as Lord Privy Seal from 1731 to 1733. He was invested as a Knight of the Garter (KG) in 1733.

In 1739, he was enlisted as a founding governor for the new children's charity, the Foundling Hospital, in Bloomsbury, London, which aimed to alleviate the problem of babies being abandoned by destitute mothers and ended up becoming a centre for British art and music. William Cavendish sold the Old Devonshire House at 48 Boswell Street, Theobald's Road in Bloomsbury. In 1734 Cavendish engaged architect William Kent to build a new Cavendish House in fashionable Picadilly.

During the Jacobite rising of 1745 the Duke raised a militia in support of the King, known as the Derbyshire Blues, which mustered at The George Inn, Derby, on 3 December 1745.

William Cavendish is also notable as the most recent common ancestor of Prince Charles and his first wife, Lady Diana Spencer. Charles and Diana were seventh cousins once removed as Charles descends from William's son, the 4th Duke, and Diana was descended from William's daughter, Lady Elizabeth.

External links

• thePeerage.com

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Galfridus Walpole John Newsham	Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel 1721–1724 With: John Newsham 1721–1722 Lord Stanhope 1722–1724	Succeeded by Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Bt Henry Parsons
Preceded by Hon. John West Richard West	Member of Parliament for Grampound 1722–1727 With: Humphry Morice	Succeeded by Humphry Morice Philip Hawkins
Preceded by John Bigg John Proby	Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire 1727–1729 With: John Bigg	Succeeded by John Bigg Robert Piggott
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Duke of St Albans	Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners 1726–1731	Succeeded by The Earl of Burlington
Preceded by The 2nd Duke of Devonshire	Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire 1729–1755	Succeeded by The 4th Duke of Devonshire
Political offices
Preceded by In Commission	Lord Privy Seal 1731–1733	Succeeded by The Viscount Lonsdale
Preceded by The Earl of Chesterfield	Lord Steward 1733–1737	Succeeded by The Duke of Dorset
Preceded by The Duke of Dorset	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1737–1744	Succeeded by The Earl of Chesterfield
Preceded by The Duke of Dorset	Lord Steward 1744–1749	Succeeded by The Duke of Marlborough
Peerage of England
Preceded by William Cavendish	Duke of Devonshire 1729–1755	Succeeded by William Cavendish
	Baron Cavendish of Hardwick (descended by acceleration) 1729–1751