Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire

Who was Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire?

Victor Christian William Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire KG GCMG GCVO TD PC JP FRS, known as Victor Cavendish until 1908, was a British politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 11th since Canadian Confederation.

Cavendish was born the eldest son of a noble family in London, and educated at Eton College and the University of Cambridge. After the death of his father in 1891, he entered politics, winning his father's riding unopposed. He held that seat until he inherited his uncle's dukedom in 1908. Thereafter, he took his place in the House of Lords, while, for a period at the same time, acting as mayor of Eastbourne and Chesterfield. He held various cabinet posts both prior to and after his rise to the peerage. In 1916 he was appointed governor general by King George V, on the recommendation of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, to replace Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, as viceroy. He occupied that post until succeeded by Lord Byng of Vimy in 1921. The appointment was initially controversial but, by the time of his return to England, the Duke had earned praise for the way in which he carried out his official duties.

Following his tenure as the Canadian viceroy, he returned to political and diplomatic life, serving as Secretary of State for the Colonies between 1922 and 1924, before retiring to his estate in Derbyshire, where he died on 6 May 1938.