View source for Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire

{{Short description|British statesman (1833&ndash;1908)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = The Duke of Devonshire
| honorific-prefix = [[Grace (style)|His Grace]]
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|GCVO|PC|PCi|FRS}}
| image = Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire.jpg
| caption = The 8th Duke of Devonshire, by [[Alexander Bassano]], {{circa|1883}}
| office1 = [[Leader of the House of Lords]]
| monarch1 = [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]
| primeminister1 = [[Arthur Balfour]]
| term_start1 = 12 July 1902
| term_end1 = 13 October 1903
| predecessor1 = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| successor1 = [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|The Marquess of Lansdowne]]
| office2 = [[Secretary of State for Education|President of the Board of Education]]
| monarch2 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]<br />[[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]
| primeminister2 = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]<br />[[Arthur Balfour]]
| term_start2 = 3 March 1900
| term_end2 = 8 August 1902
| predecessor2 = [[John Eldon Gorst|Sir John Eldon Gorst]]
| successor2 = [[Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry|The Marquess of Londonderry]]
| office3 = [[Lord President of the Council]]
| term_start3 = 29 June 1895
| term_end3 = 19 October 1903
| monarch3 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]<br />[[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]
| primeminister3 = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]<br />[[Arthur Balfour]]
| predecessor3 = [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|The Earl of Rosebery]]
| successor3 = [[Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry|The Marquess of Londonderry]]
{{collapsed infobox section begin |last=y |Cabinet offices <br>{{nobold|1868–1885}}
|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office4 = [[Secretary of State for War]]
| monarch4 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister4 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| term_start4 =16 December 1882
| term_end4 = 9 June 1885
| predecessor4 = [[Hugh Childers]]
| successor4 = [[William Henry Smith (1825–1891)|W. H. Smith]]
| monarch5 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister5 = [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|The Earl Russell]]
| term_start5 = 16 February 1866
| term_end5 = 26 June 1866
| predecessor5 = [[George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon|The Earl de Grey]]
| successor5 = [[Jonathan Peel]]
| office6 = [[Secretary of State for India]]
| monarch6 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister6 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| term_start6 = 28 April 1880
| term_end6 = 16 December 1882
| predecessor6 = [[Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook|The Viscount Cranbrook]]
| successor6 = [[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley|The Earl of Kimberley]]
| office7 = [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]]
| monarch7 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister7 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| term_start7 =12 January 1871
| term_end7 = 17 February 1874
| predecessor7 = [[Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford|Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue]]
| successor7 = [[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Michael Hicks Beach]]
| office8 = [[Postmaster General of the United Kingdom|Postmaster General]]
| monarch8 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister8 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| term_start8 = 9 December 1868
| term_end8 = 14 January 1871
| predecessor8 = [[James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose|The Duke of Montrose]]
| successor8 = [[William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly|William Monsell]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |last=y |Junior ministerial offices
|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office9 = [[Under-Secretary of State for War|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War]]
| monarch9 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister9 = [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]<br />[[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|The Earl Russell]]
| term_start9 = 2 May 1863
| term_end9 = 17 February 1866
| predecessor9 = [[George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon|The Earl de Grey]]
| successor9 = [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|The Lord Dufferin and Claneboye]]
| office10 = [[Civil Lord of the Admiralty (Royal Navy)|Civil Lord of the Admiralty]]
| monarch10 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister10 = [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]
| term_start10 = 23 March 1863
| term_end10 = 2 May 1863
| predecessor10 = [[Samuel Whitbread (1830–1915)|Samuel Whitbread]]
| successor10 = [[James Stansfeld]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |last=y |Party political offices
|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office11 = [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)#Leaders in the House of Lords (1834–present)|Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords]]
| term_start11 = 1902
| term_end11 = 1903
| 1blankname11 = [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Overall Leader]]
| 1namedata11 = [[Arthur Balfour]]
| predecessor11 = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| successor11 = [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|The Marquess of Landsowne]]
| office12 = [[Liberal Unionist Party#Leaders of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Lords, 1886–1912|Leader of the Liberal Unionist Party in the House of Lords]]
| term_start12 = 1891
| term_end12 = 1903
| 1blankname12 = [[Liberal Unionist Party#Leaders of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, 1886–1912|Commons Leader]]
| 1namedata12 = [[Joseph Chamberlain]]
| predecessor12 = [[Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby|The Earl of Derby]]
| successor12 = [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|The Marquess of Landsowne]]
| office13 = [[Liberal Unionist Party#Leaders of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, 1886–1912|Leader of the Liberal Unionist Party in the House of Commons]]
| term_start13 = 1886
| term_end13 = 1891
| 1blankname13 = [[Liberal Unionist Party#Leaders of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Lords, 1886–1912|Lords Leader]]
| 1namedata13 = [[Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby|The Earl of Derby]]
| predecessor13 = Position established
| successor13 = [[Joseph Chamberlain]]
| office14 = [[Leader of the Liberal Party (UK)#Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons|Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons]]
| term_start14 = 3 February 1875
| term_end14 = 23 April 1880
| 1blankname14 = [[Leader of the Liberal Party (UK)#Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords|Lords Leader]]
| 1namedata14 = [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville|The Earl Granville]]
| predecessor14 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| successor14 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1833|07|23}}
| birth_place = [[Cartmel]], [[Cumbria]], United Kingdom
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1908|03|24|1833|07|23}}
| death_place = [[Chatsworth House]], [[Derbyshire]], United Kingdom
| nationality = [[British people|British]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Louisa Frederica Augusta von Alten]]|1892}}
| parents = {{Plainlist|
* [[William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire]]
* [[Blanche Cavendish, Countess of Burlington|Lady Blanche Howard]]}}
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| party = [[Liberal Unionist Party|Liberal Unionist]] (1886–1908)<br> [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] (1857–1886)
| allegiance = {{flagcountry|UK}}
| branch = {{army|UK}}
| unit = [[Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry]]<br> [[Sherwood Foresters]]<br> [[1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers]]
}}
'''Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KG|GCVO|PC|PCi|FRS}} (23 July 1833{{snd}}24 March 1908), styled '''Lord Cavendish of Keighley''' between 1834 and 1858 and '''Marquess of Hartington''' between 1858 and 1891,<ref>His title "Lord Hartington", by which he became known in 1858, was a courtesy title; as he was not a peer in his own right he was eligible to sit in the Commons until he succeeded his father as Duke of Devonshire in 1891</ref> was a British statesman. He has the distinction of having held leading positions in three political parties: leading the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], the [[Liberal Unionist Party]] and the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in either the [[House of Commons]] or the [[House of Lords]]. After 1886 he increasingly voted with the Conservatives. He declined to become prime minister on three occasions, because the circumstances were never right. Historian and politician [[Roy Jenkins]] said he was "too easy-going and too little of a party man." He held some passions, but he rarely displayed them regarding the most controversial issues of the day.<ref>Roy Jenkins, "From Gladstone To Asquith: The Late Victorian Pattern of Liberal Leadership," ''History Today'' (July 1964) 14#7 pp 445-452 at page 445.</ref>
==Background and education==
Devonshire was the eldest son of [[William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire|William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Burlington]], who succeeded [[William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire|his cousin]] as Duke of Devonshire in 1858, and [[Blanche Cavendish, Countess of Burlington|Lady Blanche Cavendish]] (née Howard). [[Lord Frederick Cavendish]] and [[Lord Edward Cavendish]] were his younger brothers. He was educated at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he graduated as [[Master of Arts|MA]] in 1854, having taken a [[British undergraduate degree classification|Second]] in the [[Mathematical Tripos]]. He later was made honorary [[Doctor of Laws|LLD]] in 1862, and as [[Doctor of Civil Law|DCL]] at [[Oxford University]] in 1878.<ref name=venn>{{acad|id=CVNS850SC|name=Cavendish, Spencer Compton, Lord Cavendish}}</ref>
In later life he continued his interests in education as [[Chancellor of the University of Cambridge|Chancellor]] of his old university from 1892, and of [[Manchester University]] from 1907 until his death. He was [[Rector of the University of Edinburgh|Lord Rector]] of [[Edinburgh University]] from 1877 to 1880.<ref name=venn />
==Liberal, 1857–86==
After joining the special mission to [[Russia]] for [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]]'s accession,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=131–132}} Lord Cavendish of Keighley (as he was styled at the time) entered [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in the [[1857 United Kingdom general election|1857 general election]], when he was returned for [[North Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Lancashire]] as a Liberal (his title "Lord Hartington", by which he became known in 1858, was a [[Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom|courtesy title]]; as he was not a peer in his own right he was eligible to sit in the Commons until he succeeded his father as [[Duke of Devonshire]] in 1891). Between 1863 and 1874, Lord Hartington held various Government posts, including [[Civil Lord of the Admiralty (Royal Navy)|Civil Lord of the Admiralty]] and [[Under-Secretary of State for War]] under Palmerston and Earl Russell. In the 1868 general election he lost his seat; having refused the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland|Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland]], he was made [[Postmaster General of the United Kingdom|Postmaster-General]], without a seat in the Cabinet. The next year he re-entered the Commons, having been returned for [[Radnor (UK Parliament constituency)|Radnor]]. In 1870 Hartington reluctantly accepted the post of [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] in [[First Gladstone Ministry|Gladstone's first government]].
In 1875 – the year following Liberal defeat at [[1874 United Kingdom general election|a general election]] — he succeeded [[William Ewart Gladstone]] as Leader of the Liberal opposition in the House of Commons, after the other serious contender, [[W. E. Forster]], had indicated that he was not interested in the post. The following year, however, Gladstone returned to active political life in the campaign against Turkey's [[April Uprising|Bulgarian Atrocities]]. The relative political fortunes of Gladstone and Hartington fluctuated – Gladstone was not popular at the time of [[Benjamin Disraeli]]'s triumph at the Congress of Berlin, but the Midlothian Campaigns of 1879–80 marked him out as the Liberals' foremost public campaigner.
In 1880, after Disraeli's government lost the general election, Hartington was invited by the Queen to form a government, but declined – as did [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville|the Earl Granville]], Liberal Leader in the House of Lords – after Gladstone made it clear that he would not serve under anybody else. Hartington chose instead to serve in Gladstone's second government as [[Secretary of State for India]] (1880–1882) and [[Secretary of State for War]] (1882–1885).
In 1884 he was instrumental in persuading Gladstone to send [[Charles George Gordon|General Gordon]] on a mission to evacuate the Sudan. Despite the repeated objections of consul-general in Egypt [[Sir Evelyn Baring]], the indomitable Gordon was finally sent to Khartoum, where he did exactly the opposite of what he was sent to do, resulting in the siege of the city by the Mahdi and the final massacre of Gordon and 20,000 Arabs. Before the imminent catastrophe, Hartington  persuaded Gladstone to send troops for the relief of Khartoum which arrived two days too late.<ref>Lytton Strachey, ''Eminent Victorians'', Chatto & Windus, 1918; p. 289</ref> A considerable number of the Conservative party long held him chiefly responsible for the "betrayal of Gordon". His lethargic manner, apart from his position as war minister, helped to associate him in their minds with a disaster which emphasized the fact that the government acted "too late"; but Gladstone and Lord Granville were no less responsible than he.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=131}}
==Liberal Unionist, 1886–1908==
[[Image:Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire by Sir Hubert von Herkomer.jpg|thumb|200px|The Duke of Devonshire by Sir [[Hubert von Herkomer]]]]
{{main|Liberal Unionist Party}}
Hartington became increasingly uneasy with Gladstone's Irish policies, especially after the [[Phoenix Park Murders|murder of his younger brother Lord Frederick Cavendish in Phoenix Park]]. After being elected in December 1885 for the newly created [[Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency)|Rossendale Division of Lancashire]], he broke with Gladstone altogether. He declined to serve in Gladstone's [[Third Gladstone ministry|third government]], formed after Gladstone came out in favour of [[Irish Home Rule]] (unlike Joseph Chamberlain, who accepted the Local Government Board but then resigned), and after opposing the [[Government of Ireland Bill 1886|First Home Rule Bill]] became the leader of the Liberal Unionists. After the [[1886 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1886]] Hartington declined to become Prime Minister, preferring instead to hold the balance of power in the House of Commons and give support from the back benches to the second Conservative government of Lord Salisbury. Early in 1887, after the resignation of [[Lord Randolph Churchill]], Salisbury offered to step down and serve in a government under Hartington, who now declined the premiership for the third time. Instead the Liberal Unionist [[George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|George Goschen]] accepted the Exchequer in Churchill's place.
Having succeeded as [[Duke of Devonshire]] in 1891 he entered the House of Lords where, in 1893, he formally moved for the rejection of the [[Government of Ireland Bill 1893|Second Home Rule Bill]]. Devonshire eventually joined Salisbury's third government in 1895 as [[Lord President of the Council]], and from March 1900 was also [[President of the Board of Education]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27179 |date=3 April 1900 |page=2195 }}</ref> Devonshire was not asked to become Prime Minister when [[Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]] retired in favour of his nephew [[Arthur Balfour]] in 1902. 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. Devonshire said of Chamberlain's proposals:
<blockquote>I venture to express the opinion that [Chamberlain] will find among the projects and plans which he will be called upon to discuss none containing a more Socialistic principle than that which is embodied in his own scheme, which, whether it can properly be described as a scheme of protection or not, is certainly a scheme under which the State is to undertake to regulate the course of commerce and of industry, and tell us where we are to buy, where we are to sell, what commodities we are to manufacture at home, and what we may continue, if we think right, to import from other countries.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1906/feb/22/the-fiscal-question The Fiscal Question], HL Deb 22 February 1906 vol 152 cc456-86.</ref></blockquote>
Balfour, trying to juggle different factions, had allowed both Chamberlain and Free Trade supporters to resign from the government, hoping that Devonshire would remain for the sake of balance, but the latter eventually resigned under pressure from [[Charles Thomson Ritchie]] and from his wife, who still hoped that he might lead a government including leading Liberals. But in the autumn of 1907 his health gave way, and grave symptoms of cardiac weakness necessitated his abstaining from public effort and spending the winter abroad. He died, rather suddenly of pneumonia in his home after falling ill on his vacation to Cannes, on 24 March 1908.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=131}}
==Military service==
[[File:St Peter's Churchyard, Edensor - grave of Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire.JPG|thumb|upright|The Duke of Devonshire's grave in [[St Peter's Church, Edensor|St Peter's Churchyard, Edensor]]]]
[[File:Statue of the Duke of Devonshire in Whitehall (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Statue of the Duke of Devonshire, Whitehall|Statue of the Duke of Devonshire]] by [[Herbert Hampton]] in [[Whitehall]], London]]
He served part-time as captain in the [[Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry]] from 1855 to 1873, and was honorary colonel of the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the [[Sherwood Foresters|Derbyshire Regiment]] from 1871 and of the [[1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers|2nd Sussex Artillery Volunteers]] from 1887.<ref name=kellys>{{cite book|title=Kelly's Handbook of the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 1895|publisher=Kelly's|page=368}}</ref>
==Personal life==
<gallery>
File:Catherine Walters00.jpg|Catherine Walters
File:Louise Montagu, Duchess of Manchester (1832-1911), later Duchess of Devonshire.jpg|Louise Montagu, Duchess of Manchester 1884
</gallery>
Hartington took great pains to parade his interest in horseracing, so as to cultivate an image of not being entirely obsessed by politics. For many years, the courtesan [[Catherine Walters]] ("Skittles") was his mistress. He was married at Christ Church, [[Mayfair]], on 16 August 1892, at the age of 59, to [[Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|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 [[Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire|Victor Cavendish]]. He died of [[pneumonia]] at the [[Chatsworth House ]] in [[Derbyshire]] and was interred on 28 March 1908 at [[St Peter's Church, Edensor|St Peter's Churchyard, Edensor]], [[Derbyshire]]. A statue of the Duke can be found at the junction of [[Whitehall]] and [[Horse Guards Avenue]] in [[London]], and also on the Western Lawns at Eastbourne.
==Legacy==
Upon receiving news of the Duke's death, the House of Lords took the unprecedented step of adjourning in his honour.<ref>Hansard, THE LATE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE HL Deb 24 March 1908 vol 186 cc1178-83 [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1908/mar/24/the-late-duke-of-devonshire].</ref> [[Margot Asquith]] said the Duke of Devonshire "was a man whose like we shall never see again; he stood by himself and could have come from no country in the world but England. He had the figure and appearance of an artisan, with the brevity of a peasant, the courtesy of a king and the noisy sense of humour of a [[Falstaff]]. He gave a great, wheezy guffaw at all the right things and was possessed of endless wisdom. He was perfectly disengaged from himself, fearlessly truthful and without pettiness of any kind".<ref>Margot Asquith, ''The Autobiography of Margot Asquith. Volume One'' (London: Penguin, 1936), p. 123.</ref>
Historian [[Jonathan Parry]] claimed that "He inherited the whig belief in the duty of political leadership, afforced by the intellectual notions characteristic of well-educated, propertied early to mid-Victorian Liberals: a confidence that the application of free trade, rational public administration, scientific enquiry, and a patriotic defence policy would promote Britain's international greatness—in which he strongly believed—and her economic and social progress...he became a model of the dutiful aristocrat".{{sfn|Parry}} It has been said{{according to whom|date=March 2019}} that he was "the best excuse that the last half-century has produced for the continuance of the peerages".
With 24 years of government service, Devonshire's is the fourth longest ministerial career in modern British politics.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22858351 |title = Chasing Churchill: Ken Clarke climbs ministerial long-service chart|work = BBC News|date = 2013-06-13|last1 = Parkinson|first1 = Justin}}</ref>
[[File:Portrait of Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (4671361).jpg|thumb|upright|Caricature of Spencer Compton Cavendish by [[Carlo Pellegrini (caricaturist)|Carlo Pellegrini]]]]
==References==
{{More footnotes|date=February 2019}}
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Devonshire, Earls and Dukes of|volume=8|pages=130–132|first=Hugh|last=Chisholm|author-link=Hugh Chisholm}}
* Ferris, Wesley. "The Liberal Unionist Party, 1886–1912" (PhD. Dissertation, McMaster University. 2008). Bibliography pp 397–418. [https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/16545/1/Ferris%20Wesley%20.pdf online]
* Holland, Bernard Henry. ''The life of Spencer Compton: eighth duke of Devonshire.'' (2 vol 1911). [https://archive.org/details/lifespencercompt01holl online vol 1] and [https://archive.org/details/lifeofspencercom02holl online vol 2]
* {{Cite ODNB|id=32331|title=Cavendish, Spencer Compton, marquess of Hartington and eighth duke of Devonshire|first=Jonathan|last=Parry|author-link=Jonathan Parry}}
* Rempel, Richard A. ''Unionists Divided: Arthur Balfour, Joseph Chamberlain and the Unionist Free Traders'' (Archon Books, 1972).
* Vane, Henry. ''Affair of State: A Biography of the 8th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire'' (Peter Owen, 2004).
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire}}
* {{hansard-contribs | marquess-of-hartington | the Duke of Devonshire }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071215114618/http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=11&item=biography&PHPSESSID=32f74420ec33 Marquess of Hartington (Duke of Devonshire) 1833–1908] biography from the Liberal Democrat History Group
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef| before = [[John Wilson-Patten, 1st Baron Winmarleigh|John Wilson-Patten]] <br /> [[James Heywood (MP)|James Heywood]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[North Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Lancashire]]
| with   = [[John Wilson-Patten, 1st Baron Winmarleigh|John Wilson-Patten]]
| years  = [[1857 United Kingdom general election|1857]]–[[1868 United Kingdom general election|1868]]}}
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{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished}}
{{s-new |constituency }}
{{s-ttl
| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency)|Rossendale]]
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{{succession box
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{{succession box
| title  = [[Secretary of State for India]]
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{{succession box
| title  = [[Secretary of State for War]]|before=[[Hugh Childers]]
| after  = [[William Henry Smith (1825–1891)|William Henry Smith]]
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| years  = 1895–1903}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Leader of the House of Lords]]
| before = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
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{{succession box
| title  = [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Leader of the Conservative Party]] in the [[House of Lords]]
| before = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| after  = [[Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|The Marquess of Lansdowne]]
|years   = 1902–1903}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire]]
| before = [[William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]
| after  = [[Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]
| years  = 1892–1908}}
{{succession box
| before = [[John Beresford, 5th Marquess of Waterford|The Marquess of Waterford]]
| title  = [[Lord Lieutenant of Waterford]]
| years  = 1895–1908
| after  = [[Henry Villiers-Stuart]]}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]]
| title  = [[Rector of the University of Edinburgh]]
| years  = 1877–1880
| after  = [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Earl of Rosebery]]}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[List of Chancellors of the University of Cambridge|Chancellor of the University of Cambridge]]
| years  = 1892–1908
| before = [[William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]
| after  = [[John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh|The Baron Rayleigh]]}}
{{s-reg|en}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Duke of Devonshire]]
| before = [[William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire|William Cavendish]]
| after  = [[Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire|Victor Cavendish]]
| years  = 1891–1908}}
{{s-npo|pro}}
{{s-bef|before= [[William Cunliffe Brooks]] }}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society]] |years=1892–97}}
{{s-aft|after= Henry Fishwick }}
{{s-end}}
{{Chancellors of the University of Cambridge}}
{{Secretaries of State for Education}}
{{UKLiberalLeaders}}
{{UK Conservative Party}}
{{Leaders of the Opposition UK}}
{{Dukes of Devonshire}}
{{portal bar|United Kingdom|Biography|History}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devonshire, Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke Of}}
[[Category:1833 births]]
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[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for war (UK)]]
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[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Dukes of Devonshire|108]]
[[Category:Earls of Burlington (1831 creation)|*03]]
[[Category:Cavendish family|Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
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[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Rectors of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1857–1859|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1859–1865|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1865–1868|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1874–1880|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892|Hartington, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of]]
[[Category:UK MPs who inherited peerages|Devonshire, D8]]
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[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society|Cavendish, Spencer]]
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[[Category:Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society]]