Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, KG, PC (23 July 1833 – 24 March 1908) was a British Liberal statesman, previously known (1858–1891) as Marquess of Hartington (a courtesy title).
Cavendish was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and entered Parliament in 1857. Between 1863 and 1874 Hartington held various Government posts, including lord of the Admiralty, under-secretary for war, postmaster-general, and Chief Secretary for Ireland. In 1875 he became Leader of the Liberal opposition, and in 1880, after the fall of Benjamin Disraeli's government, he was invited to form a government, but chose instead to serve under William Ewart Gladstone as Secretary of State for India (1880–1882) and Secretary of State for War (1882–1885). In 1886 he broke with Gladstone over Irish Home Rule, and became the leader of the Liberal Unionists. Queen Victoria asked him twice more in 1886–1887 to form a government, but again he declined, giving support from the back benches to the Conservative government of Lord Salisbury.
Having succeeded as Duke of Devonshire in 1891 and entered the House of Lords, he eventually joined Salisbury's government in 1895 as Lord President of the Council. He resigned from the government in 1903, and from the Liberal Unionist Association the following spring, in protest at Joseph Chamberlain's Tariff Reform scheme.
He was married in 1892, at the age of 59, to Louisa Frederica Augusta von Alten, widow of the late William Drogo Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his nephew.
A statue of the Duke can be found in Whitehall, London.
[edit] External link
- Marquess of Hartington (Duke of Devonshire) 1833-1908 biography from the Liberal Democrat History Group
| Leaders of the Liberal Party | ||
| 1859-1916 | House of Lords: Granville | Russell | Granville | Kimberley | Rosebery | Kimberley | Ripon | Crewe House of Commons: Palmerston | Gladstone | Hartington | Gladstone | Harcourt | Campbell-Bannerman | Asquith |
|
| 1916-1988 | Asquith | Maclean | Asquith | Lloyd George | Samuel | Sinclair | Davies | Grimond | Thorpe | Grimond | Steel | |
Categories: 1833 births | 1908 deaths | British Secretaries of State | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies | Knights of the Garter | Leaders of the British Liberal Party | UK Liberal Unionist politicians | Lord Presidents of the Council | Lords of the Admiralty | Dukes in the Peerage of England | Chancellors of the University of Cambridge | United Kingdom Postmasters General | Members of the Privy Council of Ireland | Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
