CAVENDISH, Charles Compton (1793-1863), of Latimers, nr. Chesham, Bucks.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

24 Nov. 1814 - 1818
9 Feb. 1821 - 1830
1831 - 1832
1832 - 1841
1841 - 1847
1847 - Dec. 1857

Family and Education

b. 28 Aug. 1793, 4th s. of Lord George Augustus Henry Cavendish* by Lady Elizabeth Compton, da. and h. of Charles, 7th Earl of Northampton; bro. of George Henry Compton Cavendish*, Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish* and William Cavendish*. m. 18 June 1814 Lady Catherine Susan Gordon, da. of George, 5th Earl of Aboyne [S], 1s. 2da. cr. Baron Chesham 15 Jan. 1858.

Offices Held

Biography

When Cavendish was returned for Aylesbury on his father’s interest as soon as he came of age, Brougham, who was disgruntled with the Whig hierarchy, commented sarcastically:

I forgot another event of much account in truly Whig eyes—a young Cavendish is ... added to the H. of C. You may expect news therefore. Perhaps you’ll say the government will be overthrown. Possibly: but I expect that, at the least, the interesting young person will divide once in the course of the frost, if it lasts, and that he will range under the illustrious heads of the House of Cavendish.1

Cavendish, who had been elected to Brooks’s in 1813, duly took his stance in the moderate centre of the Whig party. He voted for Whitbread’s protest against the renewal of war, 28 Apr., for the reception of the City petition, 1 May, and for the amendment, moved by his father, condemning a war of proscription against Buonaparte, 25 May 1815. One of the minority of 23 who divided against the address in the Whig fiasco of 1 Feb., he voted for the amendment to the address concerning the peace settlement, 20 Feb. 1816. He divided regularly in favour of economy, retrenchment and reduced taxation for the rest of the 1816 session, but seems thereafter to have become less assiduous in his attendance. He paired in the division against the suspension of habeas corpus, 28 Feb., voted against its renewal, 23 and 26 June 1817, against the domestic espionage system, 5 Mar., and the indemnity bill, 9 Mar. 1818, but did not vote for Burdett’s parliamentary reform motion, 20 May 1817. Cavendish, who is not known to have spoken in the House in this period, voted for Catholic relief, 9 May 1817.

He was considered as a possible Whig candidate for Huntingdonshire in 1818, but in the event stood again for Aylesbury, only to be defeated by an independent townsman. There was talk of providing him with a seat for Derby or Dungarvan in the new Parliament and his name was mentioned when vacancies occurred at Peterborough, but it was not until 1821 that he found his way back into the House.2 He died 10 Nov. 1863.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: David R. Fisher

Notes

  • 1. Creevey Pprs. ed. Maxwell, i. 207.
  • 2. Chatsworth mss, Abercromby to Devonshire, 3 July 1818, 9 Feb. 1819; Grey mss, Tierney to Grey, 10 Nov. 1818, Fitzwilliam to Grey, 22 Oct. 1819.