successive lords have laboured to make them beautiful, and Nature had
given auspicious ground on which to work—hill and dell alternate; a
lovely and rapid, though narrow, river runs through them; on either
side are green banks, in many places overhung by the rich foliage
of varied trees; here and there views are obtained of the distant
hills—the Cheviots—with their thousand traditions of times happily
gone by, but which excite interest by their associations with heroic
deeds—and not unfrequently their “opposites”—of which every spot is
fertile on the border that separates Scotland from England.
[Illustration: _The Brislee Tower._]
Happily, there is now no sensation of jealousy or envy, nothing that
can either humiliate or exasperate, when the Scottishman boasts of
triumphs over his southern neighbours; nor when he admits that, often,
before the bold men of Northumberland he shrunk back in mortal dread.
The glories of the one have long ceased to be the degradations of the
other; and the spirit of rivalry is only that which has for its aim and
object the supremacy of the country of both. Will the happy time ever
arrive when the three kingdoms shall be as essentially one as the two
have been for centuries past?
HARDWICK HALL.
HARDWICK HALL may take rank among the more stately of the “homes of
England.” Stately in its outer aspect, stately in its antique furniture
and its interior fittings and appointments, and truly stately in its
associations, it is one of the most historically interesting, and
one of the most singular and picturesque, of the many “homes” whose
countless stores of natural beauties and acquired treasures are,
through the kindness and liberality of their owners, made accessible
alike to peer and peasant; while it is one of the fullest in its
historical associations, and in its power of carrying the mind of the
visitor back through a long vista of years to those stirring times
when “Good Queen Bess,” the strong-minded and strong-headed “master”
of its noble owner, sate on the throne of England. Hardwick and its
surroundings belong essentially to those times, and to the people who
moved prominently in them: the very furniture we see to-day pertains to
that eventful era—for not only is the building itself of the period to
which we refer, but so are even the “fittings;” the beds—for here is
the very bed used by Mary, Queen of Scots, and covered with needlework,
the work of her own fair hands; the tables around and at which sate
“Bess of Hardwick” with her historic family and brilliant friends; the
tapestry is that which then hung around them, and on which the eyes
of royalty and nobility have rested and “feasted with admiration;”
the screens, the chairs, the couches,—nay, almost all the objects
that meet the eye are of those stirring times, and have about them an
historic air which seems irresistibly to subdue the mind and to expand
the thoughts of the visitor.
Even a _glance_ at the graces and beauties of Derbyshire would demand
far greater space than we can accord to them: for it is the shire of
all the English shires in which natural beauties are most happily
combined with cultivated graces; hill and dale alternate at every mile;
rich valleys, through which run fertilising rivers, shut in by mountain
rocks, tree-clad from base to summit; singular peaks, that seem as if
not formed by Nature, but the work of giant hands; delicious dells,
where rivulets sing perpetually, and myriad birds rejoice in spring or
summer. Other counties may be more sublimely grand, and others more
abundantly fertile, but there is none so truly rich in the picturesque;
whether of distant views or of by-paths up hill-sides, or through lanes
clothed in perpetual verdure.
And then its history, a page of which may be read at every turn—the
Celt, the Roman, the Saxon, the Dane, the Norman, all the “peoples and
nations” that have made Britain their home, have left in this shire
enduring evidence of possession and progress; and many of its customs
remain unchanged, not only since the beacons were lit on Blakelow or
on Bruncliffe, but since the Baal fires were burning on Axe-Edge or
Chelmorton.
Proofs of a milder occupancy, too, are to be found in abundance.
Nowhere are peaceful “Halls” more numerous—remains of prosperous
epochs: Haddon, of an early date; Wingfield and Hardwick, of a later
period; Chatsworth, of a time comparatively recent; and Kedleston, of
an age scarce removed from living memory,—are but a few of the many
that glorify this beautiful shire. No wonder, therefore, that it is the
county of all others to which the tourist is most frequently attracted.
Surrounded on all sides by charming scenery, and the richest and most
abundant land, Hardwick stands in all its majesty and grace, and
forms—both in the distance, when a first glimpse of its bold outline
is gained from Brackenfield or other heights, or when viewed from
nearer points—a striking feature in the landscape. When approached
from one of the great centres for Derbyshire tourists, Matlock, the
drive is of peculiar interest, and may be, with profit to the future
visitor, briefly described. Leaving Matlock by way of Matlock Bridge,
the road passes through what is called Matlock Town, whose picturesque
church is seen overtopping the rocks to the right, where the graceful
bend of the river Derwent adds its beauties to the scene; thence
passing along the roadway, Riber—an immense and very steep hill—rises
to the right, and will be noticed as surmounted by the massive
modern erection of Riber Castle, the residence of Mr. Smedley, the
hydropathist.
[Illustration: _Hardwick Hall, with the Entrance Gateway._]
The road continues by Tansley, with its church, its mills, and its
pretty dales; Tansley, or Dethick, Moor, a wild unreclaimed tract of
moorland, purple with heather and untrammelled with fences; Washington,
with its village-green, its stocks, and its duck-ponds; Higham, a
picturesque village with an ancient cross; Shirland, with its fine
monuments, some of which are of remarkable character and full of
interest; Morton, with its pretty church and charming cottages; for
a short distance the coal district, with their pits and shafts and
ever-creaking engines; Pilsley and its pleasant lanes; Hardstoft and
Deeplane, to the lower entrance to the Park: through these and other
places of deep and varied interest we go, until we reach the Hardwick
Inn—a pretty house of entertainment close to the entrance to the
Park, from which a winding ascent of less than a mile leads to the
Hall. By this route some curious transitions from the lead-mining
district to that of coal, and from the limestone to the sandstone,
with their varied scenery and their diversified aspects, will be
noticed; and Derbyshire, rich both in minerals beneath the surface and
in arable, meadow, and pasture land on its face, as well as in rock,
and tree, and wood, and hill, will be seen to great advantage. From
Chesterfield, too, the road is beautiful; and the visitor may make a
delightful “day’s round” by driving direct to Hardwick by way of Temple
Normanton; Heath, with its truly picturesque and interesting church and
parsonage; Ault Hucknall, in the church of which are many monuments
of the Cavendish family, and where lies buried that sometime “world’s
wonder,” “Hobbes of Malmesbury;” thence through the lodge-gates and
down the fine old deer-park to the Hall, and then returning by way of
Bolsover Castle, a magnificent old building, the former residence of
the Cavendishes, Earls and Dukes of Newcastle, and rendered famous in
the Duke of Newcastle’s work on horsemanship, 1658, and now for many
years the residence of Mrs. Hamilton Gray, the authoress of “Etruria.”
But from whatever side Hardwick is approached, the land is full of
beauty, and rich in the picturesque.
Hardwick Hall is one of the many princely seats—Chatsworth, Bolton
Abbey, Lismore Castle, Holker Hall, Compton Place, Eastbourne, and
Devonshire House, London, being among the others—of his Grace the
Duke of Devonshire, in which resides the duke’s eldest son and heir,
the Marquis of Hartington, M.P., at this time Her Majesty’s Secretary
of State for Ireland. It is distant from London about 140 miles,
from Derby 20 miles, from Chesterfield 9, and from Matlock 15 miles,
and these are perhaps the more general routes by which visitors will
proceed. Whatever road is taken, they will find natural beauties in
abundance greeting the eye at every mile of a delicious journey.
Before we describe the venerable Hall, we give a brief history of
the noble family to which it now belongs, reserving that of its
predecessors for a later page.
The family of Cavendish, of which his Grace the present Duke of
Devonshire, K.G., Lord Lieutenant of the county of Derby, is the
representative, traces back to the Conquest, when Robert de Gernon came
over with the Conqueror, and so distinguished himself in arms that
he was rewarded with considerable grants of land in Hertfordshire,
Gloucestershire, &c. His descendants held considerable land in
Derbyshire; and Sir William Gernon, who was one of the witnesses to
a confirmation charter of Henry III. to Basingdale Priory, obtained
a grant of a fair at Bakewell, in that county. He had two sons, Sir
Ralph de Gernon, lord of Bakewell, and Geoffrey de Gernon, of Moor
Hall, near Bakewell. From the second of these, Geoffrey de Gernon, the
Cavendishes are descended. His son, Roger de Gernon (who died 1334),
married the heiress of John Potton, or Potkins, Lord of the Manor
of Cavendish, in Suffolk, and by her had issue, four sons, who all
assumed the name of Cavendish from their mother’s manor. These were
Sir John Cavendish, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, in the time
of Edward III., Chancellor of Cambridge, 4th of Richard II.; he was
beheaded by the insurgents of Suffolk in that reign; Roger Cavendish,
from whom descended the celebrated navigator, Sir Thomas Cavendish;
Stephen Cavendish, Lord Mayor, member of Parliament, and Sheriff of
London; and Richard Cavendish. Sir John married Alice, daughter of Sir
John Odyngseles, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, who brought to her
husband the manor of Cavendish Overhall, and by her, who died before
him, had issue, two sons, Andrew and John, and a daughter, Alice,
married to William Nell. Sir Andrew Cavendish, the eldest son, was
Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk. By his wife, Rose, he left issue, one
son, William, from whom the estates passed to his cousin. Sir Andrew
was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Cavendish, Esquire of the Body
to Richard II. and Henry V., who, for his gallant conduct in killing
the rebel, Wat Tyler, in his conflict with Sir William Walworth, was
knighted by Richard II. in Smithfield, and an annuity of £40 per annum
granted to him and his sons for ever. He was also made broiderer of
the wardrobe to the king. He married Joan, daughter of Sir William
Clopton, of Clopton, in Suffolk; and by her had issue, three sons,
William, his successor; Robert, Serjeant-at-Law; and Walter. William
Cavendish, who was a citizen and mercer of London, and of Cavendish
Overhall, married Joan Staventon, by whom he had two sons, Thomas and
William. This Thomas Cavendish, who was of Cavendish and Pollingford,
in Suffolk, married Katherine Scudamore, and left by her, as son and
heir, Sir Thomas Cavendish, who, having studied the law, was employed
by Thomas, Earl of Surrey, Treasurer of the King’s Exchequer. He was
also Clerk of the Pipe in the Exchequer to Henry VIII.—the office of
the Clerk of the Pipe being to make out leases of Crown lands, accounts
of the sheriffs, &c. He married twice, and left, by his first wife,
Alice, daughter and co-heir of John Smith, of Podbrooke Hall, besides
other issue, three sons, George Cavendish, Sir William Cavendish, and
Sir Thomas Cavendish.
George Cavendish, the eldest of these three sons, was of Glemsford,
and Cavendish Overhall, and is said to have been the author of
“Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey,” although the authorship of that work
is also attributed to his brother Sir William Cavendish. He received
a liberal education, and was endowed by his father with considerable
landed property in Suffolk. His character and learning seem to have
recommended him to the special notice of Cardinal Wolsey, who “took
him to be about his own person, as gentleman usher of his chamber, and
placed a special confidence in him.” George Cavendish was succeeded
by his son William; the latter was succeeded by his son William, who
passed away the manor of Cavendish Overhall to William Downes.
Sir Thomas Cavendish was one of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem,
and died unmarried.
Sir William Cavendish, the second son of the first Sir Thomas, became
the founder of several noble families. He was married three times:
first to a daughter of Edward Bostock, of Whatcross in Cheshire;
secondly, to a daughter of Sir Thomas Conyngsby, and widow of William
Paris; and thirdly, to Elizabeth, daughter of John Hardwick, of
Hardwick, and widow of Robert Barley, of Barley. He was “a man of
learning and business,” and was much employed in important affairs by
his sovereigns; filling the posts of Treasurer of the Chamber and Privy
Councillor to Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary. At the suppression
of the religious houses under Henry VIII., he was “appointed one of
the Commissioners for visiting them, and afterwards was made one of
the auditors of the Court of Augmentation,” which was instituted
for the purpose of augmenting the revenues by the suppression of
the monasteries; for his services he received three valuable manors
in Hertfordshire which, later on, he exchanged for other lands, in
Derbyshire and other counties. He was also knighted by Henry VIII. By
his first wife he had issue, one son and two daughters who died young,
and two other daughters, one of whom, Catherine, married Sir Thomas
Brooke, son of Lord Cobham, and Anne, who married Sir Henry Baynton.
By his second wife he had three daughters, who all died young, and
she herself died in child-birth. By his third marriage, with “Bess
of Hardwick,” he had a numerous family, viz.:—Henry Cavendish, of
Tutbury, Member of Parliament for Derbyshire, who married Grace,
daughter of George, Earl of Shrewsbury, but died without lawful issue;
Sir William Cavendish, created Earl of Devonshire, of whom hereafter;
Sir Charles Cavendish, of Bolsover Castle and of Welbeck Abbey (whose
son, William Cavendish, by his first wife, was created Duke, Marquis,
and Earl of Newcastle, Baron Ogle, Baron Cavendish, of Bolsover,
Viscount Mansfield, K.G., Commander-in-Chief, &c., &c., and was the
author of the splendid work on Horsemanship, &c., and whose life was
charmingly written by his wife, Margaret Lucas, Maid of Honour to Queen
Henrietta), ancestor of the Dukes of Newcastle, Portland, &c.; Frances,
married to Sir Henry Pierrepoint, ancestor to the Dukes of Kingston;
Elizabeth, married to Charles Stuart, Duke of Lennox (younger brother
of Lord Darnley, the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and father of
King James I.), the issue of which marriage was the sadly unfortunate
lady, Arabella Stuart; and Mary, married to Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury.
[Illustration: _The West Front._]
Sir William Cavendish was created Baron Cavendish, of Hardwick, and
Earl of Devonshire, by King James I., “at which time of his creation,
his majesty stood under a cloth of state in the hall at Greenwich,
accompanied with the princes, his children, the Duke of Holstein, the
Duke of Lennox, and the greatest part of the nobility, both of England
and Scotland.” His lordship was one of the first adventurers who
settled a colony and plantation in Virginia, and on the discovery of
the Bermuda Islands, he and others had a grant of them from the king,
one of the cantons being called after him. He married twice—his first
wife being Anne, daughter of Henry Kighley, of Kighley, by whom he had
issue, besides William, his successor, Gilbert, who died without issue;
Frances, wife of Lord Maynard; and three others, who died in infancy:
by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edward Boughton, and
widow of Sir Richard Wortley, he had a son, Sir John Cavendish. His
lordship’s successor was his second son, Sir William (who had been
under the tuition of Thomas Hobbes, of whom more will be said on
subsequent pages); he married Christian, only daughter of Edward, Lord
Bruce, of Kinloss, a kinswoman of the king, “who gave her, with his own
hand, and made her fortune ten thousand pounds.” By her he had three
sons and one daughter, viz.:—William, his successor; Charles, who was
Lieutenant-General of Horse to his cousin the Earl of Newcastle, and
was slain at Gainsborough; Henry, who died young; and Anne, wife of
Lord Rich, eldest son of the Earl of Warwick.
William Cavendish, third Earl of Devonshire, was only ten years of age
when his father died, and he was placed, as we have just said, under
the care of Hobbes, who travelled and remained with him, and was, for
the rest of his life, supported by the earl’s family. The earl married
Elizabeth Cecil, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, by whom he had two
sons, William (who succeeded him), Charles, and one daughter. William,
fourth Earl of Devonshire, before succeeding to the title, sat in the
Long Parliament for Derbyshire, and, as a youth, he was one of the
train-bearers to the king at his coronation. He was among the principal
persons who brought about the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, and the
placing of William III. on the throne. He married Mary, daughter of the
Duke of Ormonde, and had issue by her, William, his successor; Henry,
James, and Elizabeth. His lordship was the rebuilder of Chatsworth, and
was by William III. advanced to the dignity of Marquis of Hartington
and Duke of Devonshire. He was succeeded in his titles and estates by
his son. His Grace died in 1707, and his funeral sermon, preached by
White Kennett, Bishop of Peterborough, has been many times printed, and
is attached to the memoirs of the family of Cavendish by that prelate.
William Cavendish, second Duke and fifth Earl of Devonshire, was
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, and succeeded to all his father’s
appointments, among which were Lord Steward of the Household, Privy
Councillor, Lord Warden and Chief Justice in Eyre of all places north
of the Trent, Lord-Lieutenant, K.G.; he was also constituted one of the
regents of the kingdom. He married Rachel, daughter of William Lord
Russell, and by her had issue, with several others, his successor,
William, who became third Duke of Devonshire, and married Catherine,
heiress of John Hoskins, by whom he had a numerous family. His Grace
held many important posts in the State; among which were those of Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire, Lord Keeper of
the Privy Seal, Lord Steward of the Household, and Lord Justiceship for
the administration of Government during his Majesty’s absence. He was
succeeded by his son—
William, fourth Duke of Devonshire, who was, during his father’s
lifetime, called to the Upper House by his title, hitherto of courtesy,
of Marquis of Hartington. He was appointed Master of the Horse and
a Privy Councillor. In 1754 he was one of the Lords of the Regency,
and Governor of the County of Cork; in the following year he was Lord
High Treasurer of Ireland; and in 1756 was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
and First Commissioner of the Treasury. In 1757 he was Chamberlain of
the Household to the king, and held, besides, many other offices. His
Grace married Charlotte, daughter, and ultimately heiress, of Richard
Boyle, Earl of Burlington and Cork, by which union—the lady being
Baroness Clifford in her own right—the Barony of Clifford came into
the Cavendish family. By this issue he had three sons and one daughter,
viz.:—William, who succeeded him; Richard, who died unmarried; George
Augustus Henry, created Earl of Burlington, from whom the present
noble representative of the House of Cavendish, the seventh Duke of
Devonshire, is descended; and Dorothy, married to the Duke of Portland.
William, fifth Duke of Devonshire, the eldest son of the last named
peer, was married twice: first, to the Lady Georgiana, daughter of
Earl Spencer, one of the most accomplished and elegant women of the
time, and who is perhaps better known as “The Beautiful Duchess” than
by any other name; and, secondly, to Lady Elizabeth Foster, daughter
of the Earl of Bristol, and widow of John Thomas Foster, Esq. By the
“Beautiful Duchess” his grace had issue, one son, William Spencer
Cavendish, who succeeded him, and two daughters: Georgiana, married to
the Earl of Carlisle; and Harriet Elizabeth, married to Earl Granville.
On his death, in 1811, the title and estates passed to his only son—
William Spencer Cavendish, sixth Duke and ninth Earl of Devonshire, one
of the most liberal-minded of men and one of the most genuine patrons
of Art and Literature. His Grace, whose career earned for him the
proud title of “The good Duke”—a title which, with all his others,
has descended to his successor—was born in Paris in 1790, and besides
holding office as Lord High Chamberlain, &c., went in a style of
more than princely splendour on an embassy to Russia from the British
Court, and so conducted that important mission as to gain exceeding
distinction and general applause. His Grace, who never married,
died in 1858, and was succeeded in his titles and estates—with the
exception of the Barony of Clidord, which fell in abeyance between his
sisters—by his second cousin, the present noble peer, who, as we have
said, was grandson to the first Earl of Burlington, brother to the
fifth duke.
[Illustration: _The Great Hall._]
The present peer, William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, Marquis of
Hartington, Earl of Devonshire, Earl of Burlington, Baron Cavendish
of Hardwick, Baron Cavendish of Keighley, &c., &c., K.G., LL.D.,
F.R.S., Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Derby,
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Steward of the Borough
of Derby, &c., &c., was born in 1808, and was educated at Eton, and
at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated as M.A., and was
Second Wrangler, Senior Smith’s Prizeman, and in the first class
of the Classical Tripos, 1829. In the same year he became M.P. for
the University of Cambridge, which he held until 1831, when he
was returned for Malton, and afterwards for North Derbyshire, for
which constituency he sat until he succeeded his father as Earl of
Burlington, in 1834. In 1856 he was made Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire,
a post he held until 1858, when, on attaining to the Dukedom of
Devonshire, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire. From 1836
to 1856 he was Chancellor of the University of London, and he has held,
and still holds, several other important offices. In 1829 his Grace,
then Mr. Cavendish, married his cousin, the Lady Blanche Georgiana
Howard, fourth daughter of George, sixth Earl of Carlisle, by the Lady
Georgiana Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of the fifth Duke of Devonshire.
By this truly estimable lady, who died in 1840, his Grace had surviving
issue, three sons and one daughter, viz.:—Spencer Compton Cavendish,
Marquis of Hartington; Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish, M.P. for
the West Riding of Yorkshire, Private Secretary to the Right Hon. W.
E. Gladstone, married to the Hon. Lucy Caroline, daughter of Baron
Lyttelton; Lord Edward Cavendish, late M.P. for East Sussex, married to
Emma, daughter of the late Hon. William Lascelles; and the Lady Louisa
Cavendish, married to Rear-Admiral the Hon. Francis Egerton, M.P. for
East Derbyshire, brother to the late, and uncle to the present, Earl of
Ellesmere.
The Marquis of Hartington, the heir to the titles and estates, was
born in 1833, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he
graduated as B.A. in 1852, M.A. in 1854, and LL.D. in 1862. He is a
Privy Councillor, and was Lord of the Admiralty in 1863, Undersecretary
of State for War from 1863 to 1866; Secretary of State for War in 1866;
and Postmaster-General from 1868 to 1871. He was attached to Lord
Granville’s special mission to Russia in 1856, and has filled many
important posts. His lordship, who is unmarried, is M.P. for Radnor,
and is now Secretary of State for Ireland.