back to the Conquest, when Robert de Gernon, who came over with the
Conqueror, was rewarded by him for his services with large grants of
lands in Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire, &c. His descendants held
considerable land in Derbyshire; and Sir William Gernon, _temp._ Henry
III., 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 in 1334), having married the heiress of the lord of
the manor of Cavendish, in Suffolk; and by her had issue four sons, who
all assumed the name of Cavendish from that manor. These sons were Sir
John Cavendish, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench; Roger Cavendish,
from whom descended the celebrated navigator, Sir Thomas Cavendish;
Stephen Cavendish, Lord Mayor of London; and Richard Cavendish. Sir
John married Alice Odyngseles, who brought to her husband the manor of
Cavendish Overhall; and their eldest son, Sir Andrew Cavendish, left
issue, one son, William, from whom the estates passed to his cousin.
Sir Andrew was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Cavendish, who, for
his gallant conduct in killing the rebel, Wat Tyler, was knighted
by the king; he married Joan, daughter to Sir William Clopton, and
was succeeded by his eldest son, William, a citizen and mercer of
London, who married Joan Staventon, by whom he had issue two sons, the
eldest of whom, Thomas, succeeded him; and whose son and heir, Sir
Thomas Cavendish, Clerk of the Pipe, &c., married twice, and left by
his first wife three sons, George Cavendish, who wrote the “Life of
Cardinal Wolsey,” Sir William Cavendish, and Sir Thomas Cavendish. The
second of these sons, Sir William Cavendish, became the founder of the
present ducal house of Devonshire and of several other noble families.
He married, first, a daughter of Edward Bostock, of Whatcross, in
Cheshire; second, a daughter of Sir Thomas Conyngsby, and widow of
William Paris; and third, Elizabeth, daughter of John Hardwick, of
Hardwick, Derbyshire, and widow of Robert Barley, of Barley, in the
same county. Of this lady, who became much celebrated as the Countess
of Shrewsbury—“Bess of Hardwick,” as she was called—an account will
be found in the present volume under the head of Hardwick Hall. By
these three wives Sir William had a numerous family. By his first he
had one son and two daughters who died young, and two daughters who
married; by his second he had three daughters, who died young; and by
his third (“Bess of Hardwick”), he had also several children. These
were Henry Cavendish of Tutbury; Sir William Cavendish, created Earl of
Devonshire, and who was the direct ancestor of the Dukes of Devonshire;
Sir Charles Cavendish, whose son was created Baron Cavendish of
Bolsover, Baron Ogle, Viscount Mansfield, and Earl, Marquis, and Duke
of Newcastle; Frances, married to Sir Henry Pierrepoint, ancestor of
the Duke of Kingston; Elizabeth, married to Charles Stuart, Duke of
Lennox (brother of Lord Darnley, the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots,
and father of King James I.), the issue of which marriage was the
ill-fated Arabella Stuart, who was born at Chatsworth; and Mary, who
became the wife of Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury. Sir William Cavendish
was succeeded by his son, Sir William Cavendish, who 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.” The earl married, first, Anne,
daughter of Henry Kighley, of Kighley; and, second, Elizabeth, daughter
of Sir Edward Boughton, and widow of Sir Richard Wortley.
[Illustration: _The Entrance Gates._]
He was succeeded by his second son by his first wife, Sir William
Cavendish, as second Earl of Devonshire. This nobleman—who had been
under the tuition of the famous philosopher, Thomas Hobbes—married
Christiana, 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 issue three sons and one daughter, and
was succeeded by his eldest son, William, as third Earl of Devonshire,
who was only ten years of age at his father’s death. This nobleman
married Elizabeth Cecil, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, by whom
he had two sons, William (who succeeded him) and Charles, and one
daughter. William, fourth Earl of Devonshire, before succeeding to
the title, was one of the train-bearers to the king on his coronation,
and sat in the Long Parliament as member for Derbyshire. His lordship
was one of the principals in bringing about “the Glorious Revolution”
of 1688, and placing William III. on the throne; the place of meeting
for plotting for the great and good change being on Whittington Moor,
not many miles from Chatsworth, at a small cottage-inn belonging to
the Duke of Devonshire, known as the “Cock and Pynot” (_pynot_ being
the provincial name of the magpie), still existing, but recently
partly rebuilt. The “plotting parlour,” as the room in this cottage is
called, in which the Earl of Devonshire met Earl Danby, John d’Arcy,
and others, to plan the revolution, is held in veneration, and the very
chair in which the earl sat during the deliberations is preserved by
his Grace at Hardwick Hall, where it has been taken, and is, indeed, a
most interesting historical relic. The earl, who, as we have already
stated, was the rebuilder of Chatsworth, married Mary, daughter of
the Duke of Ormonde, by whom he had issue three sons, William (his
successor), Henry, and James; and one daughter, Elizabeth. His lordship
was, in 1694, advanced by William III. to the dignity of Marquis of
Hartington and Duke of Devonshire. He died in 1707, and was succeeded,
as second duke and fifth earl, by his son, William Cavendish,
captain of the yeomen of the guard to the king, who succeeded to
all his father’s appointments, including being Lord Steward of the
Household, Privy Councillor, Lord Warden and Chief Justice in Eyre,
Lord Lieutenant, K.G., &c.; he was also made one of the Regents of the
kingdom. His grace married Rachel, daughter of William, Lord Russel,
and on his death was succeeded by his son William as third Duke of
Devonshire.
The third Duke, who became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Keeper of
the Privy Seal, Lord Steward of the Household, Lord Justice for the
administration of government during the king’s absence, Lord Lieutenant
of Derbyshire, &c., married Catherine, heiress of John Hoskins, by whom
he had a numerous family. He was succeeded by his son—
William, as fourth Duke of Devonshire, who had, during his father’s
lifetime, been called to the Upper House by the title, hitherto of
courtesy, of Marquis of Hartington. His grace was made Master of the
Horse, a Privy Councillor, one of the Lords of the Regency, Governor
of the County of Cork, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland, First Commissioner of the Treasury, and Chamberlain of the
Household, &c. He married Charlotte, daughter, and ultimately heiress,
of Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington and Cork, by which alliance—the
lady being Baroness Clifford in her own right—the barony of Clifford
came into the Cavendish family. The issue of this marriage was three
sons and one daughter—viz., William, who succeeded to the title and
estates; Lord Richard, who died unmarried; Lord George Augustus Henry,
who was created Earl of Burlington, from whom the present noble Duke
of Devonshire is descended; and Lady Dorothy, married to the Duke of
Portland.
William, fifth Duke of Devonshire, married—first, the Lady Georgiana,
daughter of Earl Spencer, one of the most accomplished and elegant
women of the time, and who is best and most emphatically known as “the
beautiful Duchess,” by whom he had issue one son, William Spencer
Cavendish (who succeeded him), and two daughters, the Lady Georgiana,
married to the Earl of Carlisle; and the Lady Harriet Elizabeth,
married to Earl Granville. His grace married secondly the Lady
Elizabeth Foster, daughter of the Earl of Bristol, and widow of John
Thomas Foster, Esq. 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 kindly, generous, and liberal-minded men, and one of
the most zealous patrons of art and literature. He was born in Paris
in 1790, and, besides holding the office of Lord High Chamberlain,
&c., went on a special embassy to Russia from the British court. This
embassy his grace conducted on a scale of princely magnificence at
his own charge, and concluded it to the entire satisfaction of both
nations. By him the modern improvements of Chatsworth were, with
master-mind and lavish hand, planned and carried out. His grace, who
never married, died in January, 1858, and was succeeded in his titles
and estates—with the exception of the barony of Clifford, which
fell into abeyance between his sisters—by his second cousin, the
present noble head of the house, who was grandson of the first Earl of
Burlington. The sixth Duke—the “Good Duke,” for by that title he is
known best, and it is as amply merited by the present noble peer—was,
by express wish, buried in the churchyard at Edensor, just outside the
park at Chatsworth, where a plain and perfectly simple coped tomb, with
foliated cross, covers his remains.
The present noble owner of princely Chatsworth, William Cavendish,
seventh Duke of Devonshire, Marquis of Hartington, Earl of Devonshire,
Earl of Burlington, Baron Cavendish of Hardwick, Baron Cavendish of
Keighley, &c., Knight of the Garter, LL.D., F.R.S., Lord Lieutenant and
Custos Rotulorum of the County of Derby, Chancellor of the University
of Cambridge, High Steward of the Borough of Derby, &c., was born 27th
April, 1808. His grace is the eldest son of William Cavendish, eldest
son (by his wife the Lady Elizabeth Compton, daughter and heiress
of Charles, seventh Earl of Northampton), of George Augustus Henry
Cavendish (third son of the fourth Duke of Devonshire, by his wife the
Lady Charlotte Boyle, as already stated), first Earl of Burlington,
and Baron Cavendish, of Keighley, which titles were created in his
favour in 1831: he died in 1834. William Cavendish, just referred to,
was born in 1783, and in 1807 married the Hon. Louisa O’Callaghan,
eldest daughter of Cornelius, first Baron Lismore, by whom he had issue
three sons and one daughter, viz., the present Duke of Devonshire;
Lord George Henry Cavendish, the present highly-respected M.P. for
North Derbyshire, of Ashford Hall, in that county, married to Lady
Louisa, youngest daughter of the second Earl of Harewood; Lady Fanny
Cavendish, married to Frederick John Howard, Esq.; and Lord Richard
Cavendish, all of whom are still living. Mr. Cavendish died in 1812,
before his eldest child, the present Duke, was four years of age, his
wife surviving him until 1864. His grace 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 seat he held until 1831, when he was
returned for Malton, and in the same year, as Lord Cavendish, for
Derbyshire, and at the general election in the following year, for
North Derbyshire, which constituency he represented until 1834, when
he succeeded his grandfather as second Earl of Burlington. In 1856 he
was, as Earl of Burlington, made Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, a post
he held until 1858, when, on succeeding to the Dukedom of Devonshire,
he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire. From 1836 to 1858 he
was Chancellor of the University of London, and, besides many other
important appointments, is at the present time President of Owen’s
College, Manchester.
His grace, at that time Mr. Cavendish, married, 1829, his cousin, the
Lady Blanche Georgiana Howard, fourth daughter of the sixth Earl of
Carlisle, by his wife the Lady Georgiana Dorothy Cavendish, daughter
of the fifth Duke of Devonshire. By this beautiful and accomplished,
as well as truly estimable lady, who died in 1840, his grace had issue
four sons and one daughter, who, with the exception of the eldest, are
still living. These are—
1st. Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquis of Hartington, M.P., P.C.,
LL.D., was born in 1833, and is unmarried. The Marquis was educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated as B.A. in 1852, M.A. in
1854, and LL.D. in 1862. He holds at the present time the responsible
post of Her Majesty’s Chief Secretary of State for Ireland, and has
successively held office as a Lord of the Admiralty, Under-Secretary of
State for War, Secretary of State for War, and Postmaster-General, and
was attached to Lord Granville’s special mission to Russia.
2nd. The Lady Louisa Caroline Cavendish, born in 1835, and married
in 1865 to Admiral the Hon. Francis Egerton, R.N., M.P. for East
Derbyshire, son of the first Earl of Ellesmere, by whom she has issue
two sons and one daughter.
3rd. Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish, M.P. for the north division of
the West Riding of Yorkshire, born in 1836, and married in 1864 to the
Hon. Lucy Caroline, daughter of Baron Lyttelton.
4th. Lord Edward Cavendish, late M.P. for East Sussex, born in 1838,
and married in 1865 to Emma Elizabeth Lascelles, a maid of honour to
the Queen, and granddaughter to the Earl of Harewood, by whom he has
issue two sons.
His grace is patron of thirty-nine livings, and in Derbyshire alone
is lord of forty-six manors. His other seats are:—Hardwick Hall,
Derbyshire, about fifteen miles from Chatsworth; Holkar Hall, in
Cartmel; Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire; Lismore Castle, Ireland; Compton
Place, Eastbourne, Sussex; and Devonshire House, London.
The arms of the Duke of Devonshire are—_sable_, three harts’ heads,
caboshed, _argent_, attired, _or_. Crest: a serpent noued, _proper_.
Supporters: two bucks, _proper_, each wreathed round the neck with a
chaplet of roses, alternately _argent_ and _azure_.
There are four principal entrances to Chatsworth Park, two of
which—those at Edensor and Edensor Mill—are public, and the other two
(at Baslow and at Beeley) are private. The Baslow Lodge, shown on our
engraving, is stately and noble in the extreme, and forms a fitting
entrance to so magnificent a domain. The Beeley Lodge is simple and
unassuming; and that at Edensor, with its rustic cottages, remarkably
pretty. The most picturesque, however, in regard to its situation,
is the Edensor Mill Lodge, which we also engrave. Near it runs the
river Derwent, spanned by the single arch of Beeley Bridge, and it is
charmingly embosomed in trees and shrubs.
[Illustration: _The Grand Entrance-Lodge at Baslow._]
By whichever of the lodges the visitor enters this “wide domain,”—if
from the south, it will be at Edensor Mill or Beeley, and from the
north and other parts at Edensor or Baslow,—he will have a rich treat,
indeed, of scenery to interest him on his progress to the mansion.
The park is divided in two by the river Derwent, which flows through
it, the mansion and the Baslow and Beeley Lodges being on one side,
and Edensor, Edensor Lodge, and Edensor Mill Lodge on the other. From
either of these latter routes, which are on the higher side of the
park, the visitor obtains the finest views of the house and grounds,
and will, in his approach, cross the Derwent by the elegant bridge
shown in the engraving on page 343.
Arrived at the house, he will—after proper application at the
Lodge, and the necessary permission obtained—be ushered through the
exquisitely beautiful gates shown on the engraving on the next page,
and be conducted through the court-yard—where stands a magnificent
weeping ash-tree, of enormous size (we well remember seeing it removed,
bodily, from Mile-Ash, near Derby, to its present proud position, as
long ago as 1830)—to the state entrance. Admitted to the princely
mansion, the first room the visitor enters is—
[Illustration: _Edensor Mill Lodge and Beeley Bridge._]
The SUB-HALL, a spacious apartment, the ceiling of which is enriched by
a copy of Guido’s “Aurora,” painted by Miss Curzon. The sculpture in
this sub-hall includes a statue of Domitian; busts of Homer, Jupiter,
Ariadne, Socrates, Caracalla, and others. From this hall the visitor
next enters the North Corridor, and, turning to his left, passes along
its exquisitely inlaid marble floor, to the Great Hall, which occupies
the whole length of the eastern side of the quadrangle.
[Illustration]
The GREAT HALL, or GRAND HALL, is a noble room, 60 feet in length by
27 feet in width, and of the full height of the two principal stories
of the mansion. The floor is formed of polished marble, laid in a
remarkably striking geometric design, in mosaic, of black and white and
veined marbles. It was originally the work of Henry Watson, being laid
down by him in 1779; but was taken up and relaid, with considerable
alterations, by the late Duke. In the centre of the hall stands an
immense marble table, of Derbyshire marble, and the chimney-piece,
which is very massive, is also of marble. At the south end of the
hall is the grand staircase, leading to the state apartments, and at
the north end, beyond the corridor, are the north stairs. The hall is
four windows in length, and galleries of communication between the
north and south run, midway in height, along the sides. The ceiling
and walls of the upper story are painted in the most masterly manner
in historical subjects, by Laguerre and Verrio. The series of subjects
are events in the life of Julius Cæsar:—They are, his passing the
Rubicon; his passing over to his army at Brundusium; sacrificing before
going to the Senate, after the closing of the temple of Janus; and his
death in the Senate House at the foot of Pompey’s pillar; and on the
ceiling is his apotheosis or deification. Between the windows, and in
the window-cases, are also painted trophies of arms, and wreaths of
flowers, &c. In the hall are two remarkably fine bronze busts placed
upon pedestals, and other interesting objects, among which is a fine
canoe, the gift of the Sultan to the late Duke. Over the fire-place is
a marble tablet bearing the following inscription:—
“ÆDES HAS PATERNAS DILECTISSIMAS.
ANNO LIBERTATIS ANGLICÆ MDCLXXXVIII INSTITUTAS.
GUL : S : DEVONIÆ DUX, ANNO MDCCCXI HÆRES ACCEPIT,
ANNO MŒRORIS SUI MDCCCXL PERPECIT;”
which may be thus translated:—
“These well-loved ancestral halls,
Begun in the year of English Freedom, 1688,
William Spencer, Duke of Devonshire, inherited in 1811,
And completed in the year of sorrow, 1840.”
The “year of sorrow,” so touchingly alluded to, being that of the death
of the much-loved and highly-gifted Countess of Burlington, the wife of
the present noble owner of Chatsworth. On the exterior of this grand
hall, on the east side of the quadrangle, are some trophies of arms,
&c., magnificently and boldly carved in _alto-relievo_ in stone, by
Watson.
[Illustration: _The Bridge over the River Derwent, in the Park._]
In this hall, of which our engraving gives but a sorry representation,
the visitor is usually asked to remain for a short time, and to
inscribe his name in the visitors’ book on the central table. From the
centre of the south end of this noble room, the grand staircase leads
up to the various suites of apartments on the library and state-room
stories, and on either side of this staircase an open archway gives
access to the “Grotto-Room,” the south corridor, and the apartments on
the ground floor. From the corridor at the north end, the north stairs
give access in like manner to the various apartments and to the north
wing.
[Illustration: _The Great Hall and Staircase._]
The house is three stories in height, and these are known as the
basement, the library, and the state-room stories. Through the
extreme kindness and liberality of the noble Duke a part of each of
these stories is, under proper regulations, permitted to be shown to
visitors. It is not our intention to describe these various apartments
in the order in which they are shown to visitors—for this would for
many reasons be an inconvenient and unwise arrangement—but will speak
of them according to the stories on which they occur. And first we take
the upper, or state-room story, which, like the others, runs round
the four sides of the quadrangle. The State-rooms and Sketch-Gallery
occupy the south side; the grand staircase is at the south-east angle;
the continuation of the gallery of old masters, the west stairs, and a
number of bed-rooms, including the Sabine-room, occupy the west side;
the north is taken up with bed-rooms, with the north staircase at the
north-east angle; while on the east are “Mary Queen of Scots’ Rooms,”
so called because occupying the same position as those used by her
in the old mansion which was removed and rebuilt, and other suites
of splendid sleeping apartments which of course are not shown to the
visitor.
The SKETCH-GALLERY, which, as we have said, occupies the south and a
part of the west side, contains perhaps the most choice and extensive
collection of original drawings by the old masters in any private
collection, embracing the Italian, French, Flemish, Venetian, Spanish,
and other schools; and containing matchless examples of Raffaelle,
Michael Angelo, Albert Dürer, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Leonardo da
Vinci, Poussin, Claude, Salvator Rosa, Correggio, Luca Signorelli,
Andrea del Sarto, Lo Spagna, Giulio Romano, Caravaggio, Zucchero,
Andrea Mantegna, Parmigiano, Giorgione, Giulio Campagnola, Paul
Veronese, the Carracci, Guido Reni, Domenichino, Guercino, Holbein,
Lucas Cranach, Lucas Van Leyden, Vandyke, Van der Velde, Jan Miel, and
indeed of almost every well-known name. The collection was formed by
the second Duke of Devonshire at considerable cost; the nucleus being
purchased at Rotterdam. Among those by Michael Angelo are a study for
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; some spirited studies of figures
for the same ceiling; and a Virgin and Child. By Leonardo da Vinci a
fine head of the Virgin. By Raffaelle are the sketch for the picture
by Pinturicchio at Sienna, of “Æneas Silvius kissing the foot of Pope
Eugenius IV. at the Council of Basle;” the figure of St. Paul for the
cartoon of “The Sacrifice at Lystra;” “St. Catherine,” the original
sketch for the picture now in the National Gallery; “the Virgin and
Child;” “Joseph discovering himself to his Brethren;” and others. By
Holbein, some of the finest known examples, including “the Fall of
Phaeton,” “the Last Judgment,” “Hagar and Ishmael,” “Diana and Actæon,”
and others. By Albert Dürer several fine examples. Altogether the
collection is the most remarkable in any mansion.
[Illustration: _Vista of the State Apartments._]
The State-apartments, which are entered from this Gallery, consist of a
splendid suite of rooms, occupying the entire length of the building.
The entrance is through a small apartment around the walls of which
is arranged a fine collection of examples of Ceramic Art, including
many good specimens of the more famous English and foreign makes.
These were, in great measure, removed here from the Duke’s villa at
Chiswick. Adjoining this, at the south-west angles, is—