Henry Cavendish

Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish was born on 5 November 1789 in Westminster. He was the third son of George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington, and Lady Elizabeth Compton, daughter and heiress of the 7th Earl of Northampton. Cavendish received education at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.

In 1808, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 10th Dragoons. During the Peninsular War, he served in Spain and sustained a wound at the Battle of Corunna in January 1809. He served in the military until at least 1846, when he was promoted to major-general, and continued to rise through the ranks, attaining lieutenant-general in 1854 and full general in 1862.

Cavendish entered politics in 1812, representing Derby in Parliament, a position he held until 1834. Subsequently, he was appointed Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal to Queen Victoria in 1837, a role he resigned in 1841. On 2 June 1853, he was appointed colonel of The Queen’s Bays, a position he maintained until his death.

He was related to prominent aristocracy as the uncle of William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire.

Henry Cavendish married three times. His first marriage was on 24 October 1811 to Sarah Fawkener (27 May 1789 – November 1817), daughter of William Augustus Fawkener, who inherited £40,000 from her father. They had four children: Elizabeth Georgiana Harriett Cavendish (born 12 January 1812), who married William Bernard Harcourt and later Lt.-Gen. James Robertson Craufurd; Sarah Mary Compton Cavendish (born 27 August 1813), who married John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor; Rachel Cavendish (born 1815), who died in childhood; and Lt.-Col. William Henry Frederick Cavendish (born 31 October 1817), who married Lady Emily Augusta Lambton.

His second marriage was on 16 June 1819 to Frances Susan Lambton, daughter of William Henry Lambton and sister of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham. Frances Susan Lambton was the widow of Frederick Howard, who was killed at Waterloo. They had six children: Francis William Henry Cavendish (born 6 February 1820), who married twice; Henry Charles Lambton Cavendish (born 7 May 1821), who died young; Rev. Charles William Cavendish (born 24 September 1822), who married three times; George Henry Cavendish (born 9 January 1824), who married Emily Victorine Elizabeth Rumbold; Augustus John Cavendish (born and died in 1825); and Caroline Fanny Cavendish (born 11 November 1826), who served as maid of honour to Queen Victoria.

His third marriage was on 28 January 1873 to Susanna Emma Byerlie, who died around 1910. Henry Cavendish died on 5 April 1873, two months after this marriage.

References and external links include records such as Find a Grave and contributions in Parliament documented in Hansard.