Cavendish


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The surname Cavendish comes from an old place name in Suffolk, Cavendish.  The earliest record of the name there is Simon de Cauerndis in 1201.

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Select Cavendish Ancestry

London records of the early 1300's show Cavendish men who had migrated to the capital at a time when surnames were just beginning to be adopted.  Geoffrey de Cavendysh had a  house in St. Lawrence Jewry and his son Geoffrey was a buckle maker there.  Not all of the Cavendishs in London may have originated from Cavendish.  Thomas Cavendisshe was an apprentice to a Cavendish and had taken his master's name and handed it down to his descendants.

It is thought likely, although not proven, that this Thomas Cavendisshe was the ancestor of the Sir John Cavendish, the chief justice who was murdered in 1381 by a Suffolk mob in the Peasants' Revolt after his son had killed their leader Wat Tyler. 

A descendant, Sir William Cavendish, was in the right place at the right time to profit from Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.   From this Sir William came the wealth and political prestige of the Dukes of Devonshire, a family who were to remain powerful and influential in English political life until the 20th century.   The marital story of the fourth Duke of Devonshire and his wife Georgiana was the subject of the 2008 film The Dutchess.

Their family seat is at Chatsworth House, first constructed in 1580, in Derbyshire.  Not too far away is Bolsover Castle, acquired and re-built by Charles Cavendish in the early 1600's.      

Select Cavendish Names

Thomas Cavendish
was known as "the Navigator" because he led the third expedition (after Magellan and Drake) to circumnavigate the world.
Henry Cavendish, related to the Devonshires, was the 18th century scientist noted for his discovery of the gas hydrogen which he isolated and studied.  The Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge is named after him.
Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, was a prominent Victorian politician, serving at various times as leader of the Liberal Party, the Liberal Union Party and the Unionist Party (as a Home Rule opponent).

Select Cavendish Today
  • 2,000 in the UK (most numerous in London)



Select Index of Names

Adams Chisholm Harding McCarthy Rooney
Armstrong
Clinton
Harris McDonald Sawyer
Baldwin Corbett Hayward Meredith Shelley
Bannister Crowther Henderson Mitchell Sheraton        
Bartlett Driscoll  Hepburn Moore Spencer
Bennett Ellis Higgins Nash Sykes
Booth Fleming          
Hilton Nightingale      
Todd  
Bowles Foster Hopkins          
Palmer Tucker
Brett Fox Hudson Pascoe Vaughan
Burden/Borden Fry
Jackson Pertwee Wade
Carter Fuller Jefferson Pratt Wallace
Cassidy Gallagher   Jenner
Probyn Washington
Cavendish Gould Maloney Reynolds Webster
Chapman Grant Marriott Richardson Witherspoon

The Origin/Spread of Surnames