Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire
Encyclopedia
Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire, KG
, MBE
, TD
(6 May 1895 – 26 November 1950), known as Marquess of Hartington (1908–1938), was the head of the Devonshire branch of the Cavendish
family. Born in the Parish of St George in the East
, Stepney
, he was the owner of Chatsworth House
, and one of the largest private landowners in both the United Kingdom
and the Republic of Ireland
. He was also Member of Parliament
for West Derbyshire
from 1923 to 1938 and a minister in Winston Churchill
's wartime government
.
He was Chancellor of the University of Leeds
from 1938 until 1950. He was a freemason and was Grand Master
of the United Grand Lodge of England
from 1947 to 1950.
was married to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
.
In 1917 he married Lady Mary Gascoyne-Cecil
. They had five children:
in the presence of his general practitioner
, Dr John Bodkin Adams
, the suspected serial killer
. Despite the fact that the duke had not seen a doctor in the 14 days before his death, the coroner
was not notified as he should have been. Adams signed the death certificate
stating that the Duke died of natural causes. 13 days earlier, Edith Alice Morrell
— another patient of Adams — had also died. Historian Pamela Cullen speculates that as the Duke was head of the freemasons, Adams - a member of the fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren
- would have been motivated to withhold the necessary vital treatment, since the "Grandmaster of England would have been seen by some of the Plymouth Brethren as Satan
incarnate". No proper police investigation was ever conducted into the death but his son, Andrew, later said "it should perhaps be noted that this doctor was not appointed to look after the health of my two younger sisters, who were then in their teens"; Adams had a reputation for grooming older patients in order to extract bequests.
Adams was tried in 1957 for Morrell's murder but controversially acquitted. The prosecutor was Attorney-General Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller
, a distant cousin of the Duke (via their shared ancestor, George Cavendish
). Cullen has questioned why Manningham-Buller failed to question Adams regarding the Duke's death, and suggests that he was wary of drawing attention to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
(the Duke's brother-in-law) and specifically to his wife who was having an extramarital affair with Robert Boothby
at the time.
Home Office
pathologist Francis Camps
linked Adams to 163 suspicious deaths in total, which would make him a precursor to Harold Shipman
.
, which would have been avoided had he lived a few months longer. This led to the transfer of Hardwick Hall
to the National Trust
, and the sale of many of the Devonshires' accumulated assets, including tens of thousands of acres of land, and many works of art and rare books.
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
, MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, TD
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
(6 May 1895 – 26 November 1950), known as Marquess of Hartington (1908–1938), was the head of the Devonshire branch of the Cavendish
House of Cavendish
Cavendish is the surname of a British noble family, also known as the House of Cavendish, descended from Sir John Cavendish of Cavendish in the county of Suffolk Cavendish is the surname of a British noble family, also known as the House of Cavendish, descended from Sir John Cavendish of Cavendish...
family. Born in the Parish of St George in the East
St George in the East (parish)
St George in the East was a parish in the metropolitan area of London, England.-History:The parish was largely rural at the time of its creation, the main settlement a hamlet known as Wapping Stepney...
, Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
, he was the owner of Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
, and one of the largest private landowners in both the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. He was also Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for West Derbyshire
West Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)
West Derbyshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885 until it was replaced by the Derbyshire Dales constituency in the 2010 General Election, it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.It...
from 1923 to 1938 and a minister in Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's wartime government
Churchill War Ministry
-The War Cabinet:Changes*August 1940: Lord Beaverbrook , Minister of Aircraft Production, joins the War Cabinet*October 1940: Sir John Anderson succeeds Neville Chamberlain as Lord President. Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, enter the War...
.
He was Chancellor of the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
from 1938 until 1950. He was a freemason and was Grand Master
Grand Master (Masonic)
In Freemasonry a Grand Master is the leader of the lodges within his Masonic jurisdiction. He presides over a Grand Lodge, and has certain rights in the constituent lodges that form his jurisdiction....
of the United Grand Lodge of England
United Grand Lodge of England
The United Grand Lodge of England is the main governing body of freemasonry within England and Wales and in other, predominantly ex-British Empire and Commonwealth countries outside the United Kingdom. It is the oldest Grand Lodge in the world, deriving its origin from 1717...
from 1947 to 1950.
Family
The Duke's sister Lady DorothyLady Dorothy Macmillan
Lady Dorothy Evelyn Macmillan GBE was a daughter of the 9th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and the wife of the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.-Family life:...
was married to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
.
In 1917 he married Lady Mary Gascoyne-Cecil
Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, GCVO, CBE was born Lady Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury...
. They had five children:
- William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1917–1944), killed in action in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Married to Kathleen KennedyKathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of HartingtonKathleen Agnes "Kick" Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington , born Kathleen Agnes Kennedy, was the fourth child and second daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Kennedy. She was a sister of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy and widow of the heir to the Dukedom of Devonshire.-Biography:When...
, sister of John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. - Lord Andrew Cavendish (1920–2004), later Marquess of Hartington (1944–1950) and the 11th Duke of Devonshire (1950–2004), married to Deborah Mitford.
- Lady Mary Cavendish (6 November 1922 – 17 November 1922)
- Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Alice CavendishLady Elizabeth CavendishLady Elizabeth Georgina Alice Cavendish CVO was a childhood friend of Queen Elizabeth II and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret from the late-1940s until the latter's death in 2002 ....
(b. 24 April 1926) - Lady Anne Evelyn Beatrice Cavendish (b. 6 November 1927 - 9 August 2010), married Michael Lambert Tree
Death
On 26 November 1950, he suffered a heart attack and died in EastbourneEastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
in the presence of his general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
, Dr John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
, the suspected serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. Despite the fact that the duke had not seen a doctor in the 14 days before his death, the coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
was not notified as he should have been. Adams signed the death certificate
Death certificate
The phrase death certificate can describe either a document issued by a medical practitioner certifying the deceased state of a person or popularly to a document issued by a person such as a registrar of vital statistics that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death as later...
stating that the Duke died of natural causes. 13 days earlier, Edith Alice Morrell
Edith Alice Morrell
Edith Alice Morrell , was a resident of Eastbourne and patient of the suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams. He was tried for her murder in 1957 but acquitted...
— another patient of Adams — had also died. Historian Pamela Cullen speculates that as the Duke was head of the freemasons, Adams - a member of the fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
- would have been motivated to withhold the necessary vital treatment, since the "Grandmaster of England would have been seen by some of the Plymouth Brethren as Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
incarnate". No proper police investigation was ever conducted into the death but his son, Andrew, later said "it should perhaps be noted that this doctor was not appointed to look after the health of my two younger sisters, who were then in their teens"; Adams had a reputation for grooming older patients in order to extract bequests.
Adams was tried in 1957 for Morrell's murder but controversially acquitted. The prosecutor was Attorney-General Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller
Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne
Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne PC, QC , known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative politician...
, a distant cousin of the Duke (via their shared ancestor, George Cavendish
George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington
George Augustus Henry Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington , styled Lord George Cavendish before 1831, was a British politician.-Background:...
). Cullen has questioned why Manningham-Buller failed to question Adams regarding the Duke's death, and suggests that he was wary of drawing attention to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
(the Duke's brother-in-law) and specifically to his wife who was having an extramarital affair with Robert Boothby
Robert Boothby
Robert John Graham Boothby, Baron Boothby, KBE was a controversial British Conservative politician.-Early life:...
at the time.
Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
pathologist Francis Camps
Francis Camps
Francis Edward Camps, FRCP, FRCpath was a famous English pathologist notable for his work on the cases of serial killer John Christie and suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams.-Early life and training:...
linked Adams to 163 suspicious deaths in total, which would make him a precursor to Harold Shipman
Harold Shipman
Harold Fredrick Shipman was an English doctor and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history with 218 murders being positively ascribed to him....
.
Estate
The Duke's surprise death meant that his estate had to pay 80% death dutiesInheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
, which would have been avoided had he lived a few months longer. This led to the transfer of Hardwick Hall
Hardwick Hall
Hardwick Hall , in Derbyshire, is one of the most significant Elizabethan country houses in England. In common with its architect Robert Smythson's other works at both Longleat House and Wollaton Hall, Hardwick Hall is one of the earliest examples of the English interpretation of the Renaissance...
to the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, and the sale of many of the Devonshires' accumulated assets, including tens of thousands of acres of land, and many works of art and rare books.