Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle

Cavendish was the only surviving son of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, and his first wife, Elizabeth Basset.^[1] His maternal grandparents were William Basset and Judith Austen, daughter of Thomas Austen.

After the Restoration of the Monarchy, he was appointed Master of the Robes (June 1660–62) and a Gentleman of the Bedchamber (1662–68). In April 1660, Lord Mansfield was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Derbyshire in the Convention Parliament. He was elected MP for Northumberland in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament.^[2] He was generally inactive, but was appointed to 22 committees. By 1664 he was listed as a court dependent and he seconded the motion of Sir John Goodricke, 1st Baronet to gift £120,000 to James, Duke of York for his naval services.^[2]

He was a friend and political ally of Sir Thomas Osborne and was recorded as a supporter of the court in parliamentary lists complied 1669 and 1671.^[2] This period also saw Lord Mansfield appointed to numerous local offices, including as a justice of the peace for Nottinghamshire (1660–1689) and a deputy lieutenant for Nottinghamshire (1660–1670) and Derbyshire (1662–1670). Lord Mansfield also served as a commissioner for the assessment of taxation, a commander of the local miliita in Cumbria, Westmorland and Northumerland, and as Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland from 1670 until 1689. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War from 1672 to 1674, he commanded a regiment of foot.^[2] From 1675 to 1686, he served as Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed.^[2]

In 1676, he inherited the title of Duke of Newcastle and the family seats of Welbeck Abbey, Bolsover Castle and Nottingham Castle on the death of his father and was invested a Knight of the Garter in 1677. He remained a Tory in the House of Lords and in 1680 he voted against the Exclusion Bill. Although inactive during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, he avoided taking the oaths to the new regime required under the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy Act 1688 on the grounds of ill health.^[2] As a result, he lost most of his public offices in 1689, including those of Justice in eyre, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Custos Rotulorum of Derbyshire and Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire.^[2]

He died in 1691, leaving no surviving male heir, and thus the dukedom became extinct. Welbeck Abbey and other East Midlands estates passed to his favourite daughter Margaret, who had married John Holles, for whom the dukedom was recreated in 1694. The bequest was unsuccessfully contested by Cavendish's other daughters.^[3]

The department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham, holds a number of papers relating to the 2nd Duke of Newcastle – the Cavendish Papers (Pw 1), part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection, includes some of his personal papers; and the Newcastle (Clumber) Collection (Ne) includes estate papers and family settlements from the time of the 2nd Duke.

In 1652, Henry married Frances Pierrepont (b. 1 September 1630 in Thoresby, Nottinghamshire, d. 23 September 1695 in London), daughter of The Hon. William Pierrepont (who was the son of Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull), and they had six children:

• Lady Elizabeth Cavendish (1654–1734), known as the 'Mad Duchess', who married firstly Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle; no issue. She married secondly Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu; no issue.
• Lady Frances Cavendish (25 June 1660 – 4 February 1690), who married John Campbell, 2nd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (19 November 1662 – 23 February 1752) before 1690; no issue.
• Lady Margaret Cavendish (22 October 1661 – 24 December 1716), who married John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 1 March 1690 and had issue. (This was the second creation of the dukedom in 1694 after the first became extinct in 1691).
• Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle (19 January 1663 – 1 November 1680), who married Lady Elizabeth Percy on 27 March 1679; no issue. In accordance with his marriage settlement, he adopted the surname of Percy in lieu of his patronymic.^[4] However he died the following year and was buried in the parish church at the Percy seat of Petworth.
• Lady Catherine Cavendish (14 January 1665 – 20 April 1712), who married Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet on 14 August 1684 and had issue.
• Lady Arabella Cavendish (19 August 1673 – 4 June 1698), who married Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland on 12 January 1695 and had issue.

Through Henry, King Charles III and Queen Camilla are ninth cousins once removed.^[5]