Lucy Caroline Cavendish, also known as Lady Frederick Cavendish ( Lyttelton; 5 September 1841 – 22 April 1925), was a pioneer of women's education. A daughter of

George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton, 4th Baron Westcote, (31 March 1817 – 19 April 1876) was an English aristocrat and Conservative politician from the Lyttelton family. He was chairman of the Canterbury Association, which encoura ...

, she married into another aristocratic family, the Cavendishes, in 1864. Eighteen years later her husband,

Lord Frederick Cavendish Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish (30 November 1836 – 6 May 1882) was an English Liberal politician and ''protégé'' of the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone. Cavendish was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in May 1882 but was ...

, was murdered in Dublin by Irish republicans (a victim of the

Phoenix Park murders The Phoenix Park Murders were the fatal stabbings of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland, on 6 May 1882. Cavendish was the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland and Burke was the Permane ...

). After his death she devoted much of her time to the cause of girls' and women's education, for which she was honoured in her lifetime with an honorary degree, and posthumously when, in 1965,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

named its first post-graduate college for women after her.

Biography

Lucy Lyttelton was born at

Hagley Hall Hagley Hall is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade I listed 18th-century house in Hagley, Worcestershire, the home of the Lyttelton family. It was the creation of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, George, 1st Lord Lytte ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, the second daughter of

, and his wife, Mary Glynne, whose sister Catherine married

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

. Boase, G. C.br>"Cavendish, Lord Frederick Charles (1836–1882)
rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, October 2005, accessed 23 April 2013 In 1863 she was appointed a

Maid of Honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Tudors and Stuarts Traditi ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, whom she attended until her marriage the following year."Obituary – Lady Frederick Cavendish", ''The Times'', 23 April 1925, p. 14.

Marriage and husband's murder

On 7 June 1864 she married

, the second son of the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...

. They had no children. Cavendish was elected to Parliament in 1865. In the same year she was excited to join the Ladies Diocesan Association run by Catharine Tait with the prospect of visiting workhouses to try to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. Her husband was murdered by Irish republicans on 6 May 1882, the same day he took the oath of office of

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

. Although devastated by the assassination, on the day before the ringleader was hanged she sent him the small gold crucifix she had long worn, as a token of her forgiveness. Gladstone was greatly moved when she told him that she could bear the loss of her beloved husband "if his death were to work good to his fellow-men, which indeed was the whole object of his life." She remained a firm supporter of

Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...

. A window to Lord Frederick's memory was placed in St Margaret's Church, Westminster, at the expense of the members of the House of Commons.

Later years

After Cavendish's death, Lucy Cavendish was active in the sphere of women's education. She was President of the Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education from 1883 to 1912. She declined the offer of the post of

Mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, in 1884. She was a member of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education and was a founding member of the Council of the

Girls' Public Day School Company The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) is a group of 25 independent schools, including two academies, in England and Wales, catering for girls aged 3 to 18. It is the largest group of independent schools in the UK, and educates 20,000 girls each yea ...

, which had been founded by her father. On 6 October 1904 she received the honorary degree of

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

at the formal inauguration of

Leeds University The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

for "notable service to the cause of education".

Death

Lucy Cavendish died on 22 April 1925, aged 83, in her home, the Glebe, in

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Weald, Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, within the Seveno ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. She was buried with her husband in the Cavendish family churchyard, St Peter's.

Legacy

Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1965 as a women's college and since 2021 has admitted both women and men. The college is na ...

, was named in her honour in 1965. She was the great-aunt of one of its founders, Margaret Braithwaite.

Notes

References

External links

The Diary of Lady Frederick Cavendish (or Lady Lucy Cavendish)
(blog) Edited by John Bailey with illustrations Vol. I and II, New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers, First Edition 1927 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavendish, Lucy 1841 births 1925 deaths Lucy Cavendish Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Caroline Lyttelton British maids of honour Daughters of barons Presidents of the Girls' Day School Trust 20th-century English people 19th-century English educators 20th-century English educators National Council of Women of Great Britain members 20th-century English women educators 19th-century English women educators