Catherine Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

Catherine Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1700 – 8 May 1777), formerly Catherine Hoskins (or Hoskyn), was the wife of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, and mother of the 4th Duke.

Family background

She was the only child and heiress[1] of John Hoskins of Oxted (1640–16 May 1717), and his wife, the former Catherine Hale (1673–1703).[2] Her mother's brother was the judge, Sir Bernard Hale,[3] and her first cousins were the army generals Bernard and John Hale.[4]

Marriage and children

She married Cavendish, then an MP and known as the Marquess of Hartington, on 27 March 1718. The Marquess inherited the dukedom in 1729.

Their children were:

• Lady Caroline Cavendish (1719–1760), who married William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, and had children.
• William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (1720–1764), who married Charlotte Boyle, 6th Baroness Clifford, and had children.
• Lord George Augustus Cavendish, MP (died 2 May 1794), who died unmarried.[5]
• Lady Elizabeth Cavendish (before 1727–1796), who married John Ponsonby, MP, and had children.[6]
• Lady Rachel Cavendish (1727–1805), who married Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, and had children.[7] was a British Whig politician.
• Field Marshal Lord Frederick Cavendish (c.1729–1803), who died unmarried.
• Lord John Cavendish (c.1734–1796), who died unmarried.[8]

The duke and duchess were the most recent common ancestors of Charles, Prince of Wales, and his first wife Lady Diana Spencer, Charles being descended from the 4th Duke, while Diana was descended from his daughter, Lady Elizabeth Cavendish.[9]

In 1733, Devonshire House (formerly Berkeley House), their London home, burned down while in the process of refurbishment, possibly because of the builders' carelessness.[10] They employed William Kent to design their new residence,[11] which stood until the 1920s, when much of the contents was transferred to Chatsworth House, the family seat in Derbyshire.

Later life

The duke died in 1755 and was succeeded by their eldest son, William, to whose marriage to the exceptionally wealthy Lady Charlotte Boyle Catherine was bitterly opposed. However, at her husband’s death, since Charlotte had died the previous year and the young duke did not remarry, Catherine remained mistress of Chatsworth[12] until her grandson, the 5th Duke, married 17-year-old Georgiana Spencer in 1774.

References

1. John Burke (1833). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. H. Colburn. pp. 360–.
2. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Page 1128
3. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IV, page 346.
4. Thomas Herbert Lewin (1909). The Lewin Letters: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of an English Family, 1756-1884. Printed for Private Circulation. A. Constable.
5. "CAVENDISH, Lord George Augustus (?1727-94)". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
6.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ponsonby, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 62.
7. L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 211
8. R. B. McDowell and John A. Woods (eds.), The Correspondence of Edmund Burke. Volume IX: Part One. May 1796-July 1797. Part Two. Additional and Undated Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 202.
9. "Diana, Princess of Wales: Frequently Asked Questions". www.dianapow.com. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
10. London Online; Berkeley House and Devonshire House Archived 2015-11-22 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 30 September 2010; Sykes, Christopher Simon. Private Palaces: Life in the Great London Houses, p. 98, Chatto & Windus, 1985
11. "William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (1698 - 1755)". Chatsworth. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
12. The English Illustrated Magazine. Macmillan and Company. 1899.