Charlotte Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington

Who was Charlotte Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington?

Charlotte Elizabeth Cavendish, 6th Baroness Clifford was the daughter of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and Lady Dorothy Savile. She was known as Marchioness of Hartington from 1748 until 1753.

She married William Cavendish the future 4th Duke of Devonshire, a future Prime Minister of Great Britain, when he was Marquess of Hartington. They were married on 27 March 1748 in Pall Mall, London, when she was 16. She died at age 23 in Uppingham, Rutland from smallpox.

Lady Clifford gained the title of Baroness Clifford suo jure. Through her marriage, the Cavendish family, with the main title Duke of Devonshire, inherited the 3rd Earl of Burlington's estates. These estates include Burlington House, Piccadilly, London; Chiswick House, London W4; Londesborough Hall, Yorkshire; Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire; Lismore Castle, County Waterford, Ireland. She was his sole remaining heir.

Lady Clifford's parents had four children. One daughter and a son died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Dorothy, also died young. Only Charlotte survived her father, though only by about one year, and produced children to carry on his bloodline.