Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire

Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire, outside Chatsworth House, photo by Allan Warren

Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire KG (born January 2, 1920 in London , England - † May 3, 2004 at Chatsworth House , Derbyshire , England), was a British politician. He was a minister in the government of his uncle Harold Macmillan . From 1944 to 1950 he carried the courtesy title of Marquess of Hartington .

Life

He was the son of Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire and his wife Mary . He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge . During World War II he served as a major in the Coldstream Guards . He was awarded the Military Cross in recognition of his service on July 27, 1944, when his unit was cut off for 36 hours in heavy fighting in Italy .

family

In 1941 he married Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford (1920-2014). The couple had six children, three of whom died in childhood.

His older brother William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington , who would have inherited the title of Duke, was killed in fighting in Belgium in September 1944. With William's death, Andrew became heir and received the courtesy title of Marquess of Hartington, which he held from 1944 to 1950.

When his father died of a heart attack while visiting Eastbourne in November 1950 , he inherited the latter's title. He was in Australia at the time. His father died while being looked after by alleged serial killer Dr. John Bodkin Adams , who was his doctor at the time. The police did not undertake any significant investigations at the time.

Political career

He stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the National Liberal Party in the Chesterfield constituency in the 1945 general election and for the Conservative Party in the same constituency in the 1950 general election . With the title of duke he inherited the associated seat in the upper house in 1950 . From 1952 to 1954 he was Mayor of Buxton . He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Commonwealth Relations from 1960 to 1962, Minister of State in the Commonwealth Relations Office from 1962 to 1963, and Colonial Affairs from 1963 to 1964. Shortly after it was founded in 1981, he joined the Social Democratic Party . When David Owen resigned as party chairman in 1987, he resigned from the party and from then on sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. With the House of Lords Act 1999 he lost his hereditary seat in parliament.

In 1996 he became a Knight of the Order of the Garter . His autobiography Accidents of Fortune was published shortly before his death in 2004. The Duke has had many disputes over the years with hikers using the trails near his Chatsworth House estate . Eventually, however, in 1991 he signed an agreement with the Peak District National Park to open up 1,300 hectares of its land to hikers. He owned vast estates and was named number 73 on The Sunday Times list of the richest people in Britain in 2004 .

In 1996 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire: Wait For Me. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010, pp. 128-132
2. ↑ Pamela V. Cullen: A Stranger in Blood. The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams. Elliott & Thompson, London 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9
3. ^ Member History: Eleventh Duke of Devonshire. American Philosophical Society, accessed July 14, 2018 . 

Web links

Commons : Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Obituary in The Telegraph

predecessor	Office	successor
Edward Cavendish	Duke of Devonshire 1950-2004	Peregrine Cavendish