The Right Honourable Lord Frederick Cavendish
1883 copy by John D. Miller after a 1874William Blake Richmond portrait of Cavendish
Chief Secretary for Ireland
In office 6 May 1882
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	William Edward Forster
Succeeded by	George Trevelyan
Personal details
Born	30 November 1836 (1836-11-30) Compton Place,Eastbourne, Sussex, England
Died	6 May 1882(1882-05-06) (aged 45) Phoenix Park,Dublin, Ireland
Party	Liberal
Spouse	Hon.Lucy Lyttelton ​ (m. 1864)​
Parents	William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire Lady Blanche Howard
Relatives	George Lyttelton (father-in-law)
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish^[1]PC (30 November 1836 – 6 May 1882) was a BritishLiberal politician andprotégé of the Prime Minister,William Ewart Gladstone.^[2] Cavendish was appointedChief Secretary for Ireland in May 1882 but was killed along withThomas Henry Burke in what came to be known as thePhoenix Park Murders only hours after his arrival inDublin, a victim of theIrish National Invincibles organisation.

Born atCompton Place,Eastbourne,Sussex, Cavendish was the second son ofthe 7th Duke of Devonshire by his wife,Lady Blanche Howard, fourth daughter ofthe 6th Earl of Carlisle, and the brother ofthe Marquess of Hartington, later 8thDuke of Devonshire, who had also been Chief Secretary for Ireland. Cavendish, after being educated at home, matriculated in 1855 atTrinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1858,^[3] and then served as acornet with theDuke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry cavalry.

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From 1859 to 1864, Cavendish was private secretary toLord Granville. He travelled in the United States during 1859 and 1860, and in Spain in 1860. He was elected to theHouse of Commons as a Liberal for theNorthern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, 15 July 1865, and retained that office until his death. After serving as private secretary to the prime minister,William Ewart Gladstone, from July 1872 to August 1873 he became a juniorLord of the Treasury, and held office until the resignation of the ministry. He wasFinancial Secretary to the Treasury from April 1880 to May 1882, when soon after the resignation ofWilliam Edward Forster,Chief Secretary for Ireland, he was appointed to succeed him.

In company withthe 5th Earl Spencer, the thenLord Lieutenant of Ireland, he proceeded to Dublin, and took the oath as Chief Secretary atDublin Castle, on 6 May 1882; but on the afternoon of the same day, while walking in thePhoenix Park in company withThomas Henry Burke, thePermanent Under-Secretary, he was assassinated by members of the militant Irish nationalist splinter group known as theIrish National Invincibles. Using scalpels and surgical blades, the participants stabbed Lord Frederick and Burke multiple times from behind in an incident that came to be known as thePhoenix Park killings.

His remains were returned to England and buried in the churchyard ofSt Peter's Church, Edensor, nearChatsworth, on 11 May, where 300 members of theHouse of Commons and 30,000 other persons followed to the side of the grave.

The trial of the murderers in 1883 (seeJames Carey) made it evident that the death of Cavendish was not premeditated, and that he was not recognised by the assassins; the plot was against Burke, and Cavendish was murdered because he happened to be in the company of Burke.

On 7 June 1864, Cavendish marriedLucy Caroline Lyttelton, second daughter ofthe 4th Baron Lyttelton, granddaughter ofSir Stephen Glynne and niece ofWilliam Ewart Gladstone's wifeCatherine. She was amaid of honour to theQueen.

A statue of Cavendish can be found in the plaza behind thetown hall inBarrow-in-Furness inCumbria (formerly and historically inLancashire), where his father invested heavily in local industries. A window in memory of Cavendish was placed inSt Margaret's Church, Westminster, at the cost of the members of the House of Commons. His imposing whiteCarrara marble tomb can be seen inCartmel Priory, Cumbria. Cavendish was a council member ofYorkshire College,Leeds, which after his death established the Cavendish Chair of Physics.^[4] There is also amemorial fountain to him atBolton Abbey.

• 
  The funeral of Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish inSt Peter's Churchyard, Edensor
• 
  St Peter's Church, Edensor - Memorial to Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish
• 
  Window erected in his memory inSt Peter's Church, Edensor made byHardman & Co. in 1882
• 
  The memorial to Cavendish at Bolton Abbey
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  Memorial to Cavendish at Bolton Abbey erected by tenants of the Estate
• 
  Carrara marble memorial inCartmel Priory

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages^{[self-published source][better source needed]}
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: "Cavendish, Frederick Charles".Dictionary of National Biography. London:Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

• Hansard 1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Lord Frederick Cavendish
• Portraits of Lord Frederick Cavendish at theNational Portrait Gallery, London

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLord Frederick Charles Cavendish.

• 1836 births
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