William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington

William John Robert Cavendish
Personal details
Born	10 December 1917
Died	10 September 1944 (aged 26)[1] Heppen, occupied Belgium †
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Kathleen Agnes Kennedy (m. 1944; his death 1944)
Relations	Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish (brother)
Parents	Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire Mary Gascoyne-Cecil
Religion	Anglican
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Major
Unit	Coldstream Guards, Guards Armoured Division
Battles/wars	World War II Western Front †

William John Robert "Billy" Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (10 December 1917 – 10 September 1944), was an English politician and soldier.^[2] He was the eldest son of Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire, and his wife, Lady Mary Gascoyne-Cecil. He was the husband of Kathleen Kennedy, sister of the future U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Education

He was educated at Eton.^[3]

Politics

Hartington was a member of the Conservative Party. He was selected as the official candidate of the Wartime Coalition for a by-election held on 18 February 1944 in the Derbyshire West constituency local to Chatsworth. The Independent candidate Charles Frederick White, Jr. had resigned from the Labour Party to mount a challenge and, then to defeat Hartington in contravention of the Wartime Coalition's ban on partisan campaigning.^[4]

Marriage

Hartington married socialite Kathleen Kennedy on 6 May 1944 at the Register Office in Chelsea Town Hall on King's Road in London, England.^[5] Her brothers were John, Robert and Ted Kennedy.^[6] Her mother Rose highly disapproved of the union - the Kennedy family were Roman Catholic and the Dukes of Devonshire were Anglican, and neither would be married in the other's faith.^[7][8]

Death

Four months later, on 10 September 1944, Hartington was killed in action^[9] by a sniper in Belgium^[10] while serving during World War II as a major in the Coldstream Guards.^[11] His company was trying to capture the town of Heppen, which was being held by troops of the German Waffen-SS.^[12]

In the weeks before he died, Hartington's battalion, the 5th, serving in the Guards Armoured Division, had engaged in heavy fighting in Northern France. In early September, they crossed the Somme and pushed east towards Brussels, where his unit was one of the first to liberate the city.

Of the townsfolk and villagers who turned out and cheered the Allies, and in some cases decorated their tanks, Hartington wrote to his wife of feeling "so unworthy of it all living as I have in reasonable safety and comfort during these years..... I have a permanent lump in my throat and long for you to be here as it is an experience which few can have and which I would love to share with you."^[13]

His place in the order of succession was taken by his younger brother Andrew, who inherited the dukedom six years later.^[14]

Ancestry

Ancestors of William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington

16. William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire               8. Lord Edward Cavendish                       17. Blanche Georgiana Howard               4. Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire                             18. Hon. William Lascelles               9. Emma Lascelles                       19. Caroline Georgiana Howard               2. Edward William Spencer Cavendish                                   20. Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne               10. Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne                       21. Emily Jane de Flahaut, 8th Lady Nairne               5. Lady Evelyn Petty-Fitzmaurice                             22. James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn               11. Lady Maud Evelyn Hamilton                       23. Lady Louisa Jane Russell               1. William John Robert Cavendish                                         24. James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury               12. Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury                       25. Frances Mary Gascoyne               6. James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury                             26. Sir Edward Hall Alderson               13. Georgina Charlotte Alderson                       27. Georgina Drewe               3. Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil                                   28. Philip Gore, 4th Earl of Arran               14. Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran                       29. Elizabeth Marianne Napier               7. Cicely Gore                             30. Robert Jocelyn, Viscount Jocelyn               15. Edith Elizabeth Henrietta Jocelyn                       31. Lady Frances Elizabeth Cowper

References

1. "Kathleen Kennedy". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
2. Find a grave
3. thePeerage.com
4. "LIFE", 13 Mar 1944, pp 28-29.
5. POlitico
6. "The Cavendishes & the Kennedys". Time. 15 May 1944. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
7. "Kathleen put love before religion". The Montreal Gazette. 4 August 1970.
8. Spencer, Charles (January 2010). "Enemies of the Estate". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
9. Obituary. The Marquess of Hartington The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Sep 19, 1944; pg. 4; Issue 49960
10. Cheshire Now
11. ‘HARTINGTON, Marquess of’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 26 Aug 2015
12. "William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1917 - 1944) - Genealogy". Geni.
13. Bailey, C. (2007). Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty, p. 375. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-670-91542-2.
14. Duke Of Devonshire. The Times (London, England), Monday, Nov 27, 1950; pg. 8; Issue 51859