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Charles Cavendish (landowner, born 1553)

Sir Charles Cavendish (28 November 1553 – 4 April 1617) was an English landowner. He was a son of Bess of Hardwick and William Cavendish (1505–1557).[1]

Bolsover Castle[edit]

Cavendish discussed his buildings with the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury, and sent them drawings that he developed after discussions with Lord Lumley's "inventor" or architect.[20] The "inventor" provided Italianate designs with a hall and a small dining room called a "tenelli". The "tenelli" was unsuitable for an English earl, but fitting, said Cavendish, for an Italian gentleman who keeps only a pair of servants and eats only "salads and frogs, that yield little vapour."[21][22]


Charles Cavendish acquired Bolsover Castle and Welbeck Abbey from Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury in 1613.[23] His accounts survive for building the early stages of the "Little Castle" at Bolsover.[24] Unusually for this period female labour was recorded and the women's names or their husbands' names are given.[25]


A design for the hall chimney, probably by John Smythson, drew on the published work of Sebastiano Serlio.[26] Although the black-and-white marble fireplaces in Bolsover's "Little Castle" were installed after the death of Charles Cavendish, they were likely inspired by the publication of an English translation of Serlio's Architectura in 1611, possibly connecting the conception of Bolsover with an interest in Italian design at the court of Prince Henry.[27]


Charles, or his brother William Cavendish welcomed King James at Bothal Castle on 5 May 1617. The king stayed for two nights, then went on to Alnwick Abbey, the home of Francis Brandling, on his way to Scotland.[28]


Charles Cavendish died in 1617 and was buried at Bolsover.[29] His son built the monument to his parents in St Mary and St Laurence's Church, Bolsover.

(1593–1676)

William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle

(1594–1654)

Charles Cavendish

Cavendish married two heiresses.[30] He married his first wife Margaret Kitson on 6 February 1580, a daughter of Thomas Kitson of Hengrave Hall and Elizabeth Cornwallis.[31] Thomas Kitson was a son of Thomas Kitson and Margaret Donnington. She died in childbirth in 1583 giving birth to a son called Charles. Bess of Hardwick had negotiated the marriage in 1580 via her son-in-law Gilbert Talbot who held discussions with Sir Thomas Cornwallis on details of the contract, instructed by letters from Bess.[32]


The architectural historian Mark Girouard draws a parallel between the plan of Hengrave Hall and Barlborough Hall built in the 1580s for Bess of Hardwick's lawyer, Francis Rodes, and a later-unexecuted plan for a house at Slingsby for Charles Cavendish. The similarity is a corridor running around the internal courtyard.[33]


Charles Cavendish married Catherine Ogle (d. 1627), daughter of Cuthbert, 7th Lord Ogle, Baron Ogle, in 1592. She was the heiress and brought Bothal Castle to Cavendish. Their children included:

Trevor Lewis, 'The lost manor of Kirkby Hardwick', Thoroton Society

Cavendish Family Tree: Bolsover Parish Church