https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=William_Cavendish%2C_2nd_Duke_of_DevonshireWilliam Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire - Revision history2026-06-05T08:34:48ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.44.2https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=William_Cavendish,_2nd_Duke_of_Devonshire&diff=159622&oldid=previmported>HandsomeFella at 20:49, 3 November 20252025-11-03T20:49:04Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|British nobleman and politician (1672–1729)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
|honorific-prefix = [[Grace (style)|His Grace]]<br />
|name = The Duke of Devonshire <br />
|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|KG|PC}}<br />
|image = William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt.jpg <br />
|caption = Portrait by [[Godfrey Kneller]]<br />
|imagesize = 200px<br />
|order = [[Lord President of the Council]]<br />
|term_start = 6 July 1716<br />
|term_end = 16 March 1718<br />
|monarch = [[George I of Great Britain|George I]]<br />
|predecessor = [[Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham|The Earl of Nottingham]]<br />
|successor = [[Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland|The Earl of Sunderland]]<br />
|term_start2 = 27 March 1725<br />
|term_end2 = 4 June 1729<br />
|monarch2 = [[George I of Great Britain|George I]]<br>[[George II of Great Britain|George II]]<br />
|predecessor2 = [[Henry Boyle, 1st Baron Carleton|The Lord Carleton]]<br />
|successor2 = [[Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor|The Lord Trevor]]<br />
|birth_date = 1672<br />
|birth_place = <br />
|death_date = {{death date and age|1729|6|4|1672|df=y}}<br />
|death_place =<br />
|nationality = [[British people|British]]<br />
|party = [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]]<br />
|alma_mater = <br />
|spouse = [[Rachel Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Rachel Russell]]<br />
|children = [[William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire]]<br>Lady Rachel Cavendish<br>Lady Elizabeth Cavendish<br>[[Lord James Cavendish (MP for Malton)|Lord James Cavendish]]<br>[[Lord Charles Cavendish (politician, born 1704)|Lord Charles Cavendish]]|parents=[[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire]]<br>Lady Mary Butler}}<br />
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[[File:Coat of arms of William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire, KG.png|thumb|Quartered arms of William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire, KG]]<br />
'''William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire''' (1672 – 4 June 1729), was a British nobleman and politician. He was the eldest son of [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire]], and Lady Mary Butler. A prominent [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]], he was sworn of the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]] in 1707, and served as [[Lord President of the Council]] from 1716 to 1718 and from 1725 to 1729. <br />
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== Biography ==<br />
Cavendish was born as the eldest surviving son of [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire]].<ref name="mp">{{cite web |title=CAVENDISH, William (1672-1729) {{!}} History of Parliament |url=https://dev.historyofparliamentonline.org/lord-biography/cavendish-william-1672-1729 |website=dev.historyofparliamentonline.org |access-date=12 July 2025}}</ref> After marrying the daughter of Whig martyr [[William Russell, Lord Russell|Lord Russell]], [[Rachel Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Rachel Russell]], Cavendish was sent out to the country, probably commanding his father's troop of cavalry, and was a volunteer in [[Flanders]] in 1692.<ref name="mp"/> His first attempt at entering politics was by competing in a by-election in 1691 for the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]], which did not succeed.<ref name="mp"/> However, in 1695, he did manage to enter the House of Commons representing the county of Derbyshire.<ref name="mp"/><br />
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== Horse racing ==<br />
Cavendish was significant in horse racing. He was the owner of [[Flying Childers]], who is often considered the first true great racehorse in the history of thoroughbreds.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Guest |first1=Kristen |last2=Mattfeld |first2=Monica |title=Horse Breeds and Human Society: Purity, Identity and the Making of the Modern Horse |date=26 November 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-65692-7 |pages=1-9 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Horse_Breeds_and_Human_Society/6E3ADwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=12 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="yale">{{cite web |title=James Seymour, 1702–1752, The Duke of Devonshire's Flying Childers, 1742 |url=https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:42478 |website=collections.britishart.yale.edu |access-date=12 July 2025}}</ref> Childers was also the son of [[Darley Arabian]], which was one of the first three horses that led to the creation of the English [[thoroughbred]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morland |first1=Thomas Hornby |title=The genealogy of the English race horse; with the natural history of his progenitors |date=1810 |publisher=J. Barfield |page=72 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_genealogy_of_the_English_race_horse/whMAAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref> Cavendish intended to use Childers as a hunter for practical field use after buying him from Colonel Leonard Childers as a yearling, before eventually becoming putting him in racing and him becoming the [[leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland]].<ref name="yale"/><ref>{{cite book |title=Live Stock Journal |date=1899 |publisher=Vinton |page=555 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Live_Stock_Journal/Mi4_AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Flying+Childers+%22stud+farm%22+devonshire&pg=PA555&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref> However, Childers was not a great breeder, and instead, his brother [[Bartlett's Childers]], who was unsuitable for racing, was bred, leading to Bartlett being the male ancestor of [[Eclipse (horse)|Eclipse]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parlin |first1=Simon W. |title=The American Trotter: A Treatise on His Origin, History and Development |date=1905 |publisher=American Horse Breeder Publishing Company |page=21 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_American_Trotter/tSxPAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Bartlett%27s+Childers+%22eclipse%22&pg=PA21&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Clee |first1=Nicholas |title=Eclipse: The Horse That Changed Racing History Forever |date=29 March 2012 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-1-4683-0005-5 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Eclipse/C5qSDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Bartlett%27s+Childers+%22eclipse%22&pg=PT57&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
He married the Hon. [[Rachel Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Rachel Russell]] (1674–1725), daughter of [[William Russell, Lord Russell]], on 21 June 1688. She served as a [[Lady of the Bedchamber]] at the court of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Warrant Books: April 1713, 1–15 Pages 169–184 Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 27, 1713. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1955. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-treasury-books/vol27/pp169-184 |website=British History Online |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref><br />
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They had ten children:<br />
# Lady Mary Cavendish (18 August 1696 – 15 June 1719)<ref>England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975</ref><br />
# [[William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire]] (26 September 1698 – 5 December 1755)<br />
# Lady Rachel Cavendish (4 October 1699 – 18 June 1780)<ref>{{cite web |last=Jervas |first=Charles |title=Lady Rachel Cavendish, Lady Morgan (1697–1780), as a Shepherdess |url=http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1553687 |website=National Trust}}</ref> married [[Sir William Morgan]] on 14 May 1723<br />
# Lady Elizabeth Cavendish (27 September 1700 – 7 November 1747) married [[Sir Thomas Lowther, 2nd Baronet]]<br />
# [[Lord James Cavendish (MP for Malton)|Lord James Cavendish]] (23 November 1701 – 14 December 1741)<br />
# [[Lord Charles Cavendish (politician, born 1704)|Lord Charles Cavendish]] (17 March 1704 – 28 April 1783) married Anne Grey on 9 January 1727, father of [[Henry Cavendish]]<br />
# Lady Anne Cavendish (died 23 August 1780 aged 70<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0BDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA131 |title=The Chronicles of the Collegiate Church or Free Chapel of All Saints, Derby |last=Cox |first=John Charles |year=1881}}</ref>)<br />
# Lady Katherine Cavendish (died 12 September 1715 aged 9<ref name=":0"/>) <br />
# Lord John Cavendish (died 11 May 1720 aged 12<ref name=":0"/>)<br />
# Lady Diana Cavendish (died 12 February 1722<ref name=":0"/>)<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{s-start}}<br />
{{s-par|en}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Derbyshire]]<br />
|years = 1695–1701<br />
|with = [[Gilbert Clarke|Sir Gilbert Clarke]] 1695–1698<br />
|with2 = [[Thomas Coke (privy counsellor)|Thomas Coke]] 1698–1701<br />
|with3 = [[John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland|Lord Manners of Haddon]] 1701<br />
|before = [[Gilbert Clarke|Sir Gilbert Clarke]]<br>[[Henry Gilbert (politician)|Henry Gilbert]]<br />
|after = [[Thomas Coke (privy counsellor)|Thomas Coke]]<br>[[Sir John Curzon, 3rd Baronet|Sir John Curzon, Bt]]}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Castle Rising (UK Parliament constituency)|Castle Rising]]<br />
|years=1702<br />
|with = [[Robert Walpole]]<br />
|before = [[Robert Walpole]]<br>[[Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh|The Earl of Ranelagh]]<br />
|after = [[Sir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Baronet|Sir Thomas Littleton, Bt]]<br>[[Horatio Walpole (died 1717)|Horatio Walpole]]}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Yorkshire]]<br />
|years = 1702–[[First Parliament of Great Britain|1707]]<br />
|with = [[Sir John Kaye, 2nd Baronet|Sir John Kaye, Bt]] 1702–1707<br />
|with2 = [[Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron|The Lord Fairfax of Cameron]] 1707<br />
|before = [[Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron|The Lord Fairfax of Cameron]]<br>[[Arthur Ingram, 3rd Viscount of Irvine|The Viscount of Irvine]]<br />
|after = [[Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe|The Viscount Downe]]<br>[[Conyers Darcy]]}}<br />
{{s-off}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard]]<br />
|before = [[Charles Montagu, 1st Duke of Manchester|The Earl of Manchester]]<br />
|after = [[Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend|The Viscount Townshend]]<br />
|years = 1702–1707}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|before = [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]<br />
|title = [[Lord Steward]]<br />
|after = [[John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby|The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby]]<br />
|years = 1707–1710}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Lord Steward]]<br />
|before = [[John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett|The Earl Poulett]]<br />
|after = [[Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent|The Duke of Kent]]<br />
|years = 1714–1716}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Lord President of the Council]]<br />
|before = [[Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham|The Earl of Nottingham]]<br />
|after = [[Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland|The Earl of Sunderland]]<br />
|years = 1716–1718}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Lord President of the Council]]<br />
|before = [[Henry Boyle, 1st Baron Carleton|The Lord Carleton]]<br />
|after = [[Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor|The Lord Trevor]]<br />
|years = 1725–1729}}<br />
{{s-hon}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|before = [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]<br />
|title = [[Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire]]<br />
|after = [[Nicholas Leke, 4th Earl of Scarsdale|The Earl of Scarsdale]]<br />
|years = 1707–1710}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire]]<br />
|before = [[Nicholas Leke, 4th Earl of Scarsdale|The Earl of Scarsdale]]<br />
|after = [[William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]<br />
|years = 1714–1729}}<br />
{{s-legal}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|before = [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]<br />
|title = [[Justice in Eyre]]<br>north of the Trent<br />
|after = [[John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|The Duke of Newcastle]]<br />
|years = 1707–1711}}<br />
{{s-reg|en}}<br />
{{succession box<br />
|title = [[Duke of Devonshire]]<br />
|before = [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire|William Cavendish]]<br />
|years = 1707–1729<br />
|after = [[William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire|William Cavendish]]}}<br />
{{s-end}}<br />
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{{Dukes of Devonshire}}<br />
{{Walpole/Townshend ministry}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Devonshire, William Cavendish, 2nd Duke Of}}<br />
[[Category:1672 births]]<br />
[[Category:1729 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Cavendish family|William Cavendish, 02nd Duke of Devonshire]]<br />
[[Category:Dukes of Devonshire|102]]<br />
[[Category:English MPs 1695–1698]]<br />
[[Category:English MPs 1698–1700]]<br />
[[Category:English MPs 1701]]<br />
[[Category:English MPs 1701–1702]]<br />
[[Category:English MPs 1702–1705]]<br />
[[Category:English MPs 1705–1707]]<br />
[[Category:Garter Knights appointed by Anne]]<br />
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Derbyshire]]<br />
[[Category:Lord presidents of the Council]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain]]<br />
[[Category:People from Derbyshire]]</div>imported>HandsomeFella