Lucy Caroline Cavendish (néeLyttelton; 5 September 1841 – 22 April 1925), also known as Lady Frederick Cavendish, was an English pioneer of women's education.
On 7 June 1864 she married Lord Frederick Cavendish, the second son of the Duke of Devonshire. They had no children. Cavendish was elected to Parliament in 1865.[1] 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.[3]
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.[1] 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.[4] 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."[2] She remained a firm supporter of Irish Home Rule. 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.[1]
Later years
After her husband'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 of Girton College, Cambridge, 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, which had been founded by her father.[1] On 6 October 1904 she received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws at the formal inauguration of Leeds University for "notable service to the cause of education".[5]
Death
Lucy Cavendish died on 22 April 1925, aged 83, in her home, the Glebe, in Penshurst, Kent. She was buried with her husband in the Cavendish family churchyard, St Peter's.[1]
↑Renfrew, Jane M. "Who was Lucy Cavendish?". Rooms of Our Own - Lucy Cavendish College. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
