The Devonshires: The Story of a Family and a Nation

by Roy Hattersley

The story of the Devonshires is the story of Britain.

William Cavendish, the father of the first Earl, dissolved monasteries for Henry VIII. Bess, his second wife, was gaoler-companion to Mary Queen of Scots during her long imprisonment in England. Arbella Stuart, their granddaughter, was a heartbeat away from the throne of England and their grandson, Lord General of the North, fought to save the crown for Charles I. Fifty years later, the First Duke of Devonshire conspired to depose James II, and make William of Orange king. For the next two centuries the Devonshires were at the heart of fashionable society and the centre of political power. The Fourth Duke became prime minister and Georgiana, wife of the Fifth, scandalised even the Regency. Spencer Compton, the last of the great Devonshires, was three times offered the premiership, and three times refused it. Even the Devonshire servants made history. Joseph Paxton was their gardener and Thomas Hobbes was the family tutor.

With the help of previously unpublished material from the Chatsworth archives, The Devonshires reveals how the dynasty made and lost fortunes, fought and fornicated, built great houses, patronised the arts and pioneered the railways, made great scientific discoveries, and, in the end, came to terms with changing times. It is popular history at its very best.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, British Literature

496 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2013

About the author

Roy Sydney George Hattersley, British Politian and author.

Reviews

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the information this book provided but it was a tough read. I took notes.
I’m spending a week in Chatsworth in the Spring so wanted the background this book provided. I got that but there were times I wanted to forget it and pick up something else.
I pressed on and finished it!

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a book. I loved the private and personal insights into the family and their connections. Many parts on politics were so detailed that one fell into a black hole, but nonetheless amazing what this family's history actively and passively changed and did to English history. I don't think any other English noble line can really say that for more than 500 long years still going... wow.

[Desirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and there were so many interesting characters, as well as the dukes there are younger brothers who didn't inherit the dukedom (Henry Cavendish for example) but had extraordinary lives and employees and colleagues like Joseph Paxton (a fascinating chapter). I thoroughly enjoyed and it's an easy good read. Personally, I would have liked a bit more on the houses and the art they collected, the collection we can see at Chatsworth now and why it remains a No1 visitor attraction, and it has only a tiny section on Andrew Cavendish and Deborah D of D (Mitford), I suppose there's so much written about them as it is and there's a limit to what could be included. A great book.

[Vincent Solomeno · Rating 2 out of 5]

After months on my bookshelf, I was excited to finally sit down and read Roy Hattersley's "The Devonshires." Full disclosure: I possess an amateur's knowledge and interest in British social and political history. While I did not expect this book to be riveting, I was still disappointed. Mr. Hattersley is an excellent historian. However, I found "The Devonshires" repetitive, boring, and generally a disservice to what is otherwise an interesting subject.

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched and fluent book that emphasises the arc of power and wealth from city drapers through the downright crooked acquisition of land from the Dissolution of the M's to the ownership of more houses and land than all the Dukes. Then the rapidly succeeding and unexpected deaths of D9 & D10 post-WWII triggered the payment of enormous death duties and a massive selloff. Debo turned the whole affair into an effective group of businesses.

[Caroline Cormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The back of the book claims that the story of the Devonshires is the story of Britain, which of course it's not, but their proximity to the seats of power over five centuries does make it an entertaining history of the aristocracy and politics of the time.

[Stephen Tubbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is too much information to digest on a first listening - intend to follow up by reading the book.

[Ken Sampson · Rating 4 out of 5]

[2013] An interesting and informative read.

[Sally Slade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Readable yet scholarly. Well done Roy. Book number 8 of my #60before60.

[Anders Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a family as prominent as the Devonshires it seems surprising that more hasn't been written about them, but Roy Hattersley seeks to put that right with this authoritative and lengthy volume taking the Cavendish family from their first known origins to the turn of the twentieth century. Hattersley is the perfect author for this book with a long and credible bibliography to his name of many similar, and in some cases interlinked subjects. He also lives close to Chatsworth and has a clear passion and fascination with the subject of this book. His background in politics also helps him to explain and bring to life the political careers of many in the family in a way that other writers perhaps wouldn't.

The subtitle of this book 'the story of a family and a nation' is key to understanding this book as it is in large part a history of the country through the eyes of the Cavendish family. Readers looking for a history of their most famous current legacy Chatsworth won't find that here in any great detail. Whilst the key elements of the house and the park such as Paxton's glasshouses and the fountains do play a part, this book is very much about each generation of the family and how they are entwined with the wider history of the UK. In doing so Hattersley spends considerable time, and perhaps occasionally too much time, focusing on some of the more interesting and colourful such as Bess of Hardwick, Arbella Stuart and Georgiana Cavendish, along with the family's role in the English Civil War. What the book also does is draw attention to many of the family characteristics and parallels through the generations.

This is a book that deserves to be read in longer concentrated stints, rather than in small portions, to really absorb each part of the family's story, which at times can become a little confusing with chapters zig-zagging around in chronology to allow Hattersley to cover the story of events from beginning to end but then still considering other aspects of the lives of people whose death he has already mentioned. Sadly if I have one other criticism it is that the story very much ends at the turn of the twentieth century and only considers the more recent history of the family in the afterword. Whilst the family is now less prominent in public life, it seems a shame that the way the family has found a new role in society doesn't get any consideration.

[Jack Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this at Holker Hall I think, which is a Cavendish house.

It's good, well researched, Hattersley writes good accessible history but I think it sort of fails in the 20th century. Obviously the excitement of building, of Bess of Hardwick and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire gets a lot of attention. But having read Debo Mitford's autobiographies it's clear that he barely scrapes the surface of the last Duke but one. Andrew Cavendish may have brought forth one of the first and most successfully adapted post-War visions of the enormous country pile, opening Chatsworth to we gaping proles and developing the estate, but if he'd been an 18th or 19th century duke we'd have had all the other stuff, wouldn't we, the miscarriages and the alcoholism. Not mentioned. It would have been better, perhaps, if he'd just chosen an arbitrary end, 1939 maybe, or the death of Andrew's brother, rather than making me wonder what else he'd left out, and why he chose to leave it out when Debo was happy to talk about it. I mean it's worth a read if you're interested, of course, perfectly adequate - the first two-thirds are very good.

[Madeleine · Rating 4 out of 5]

After making it through the 400 pages of this book, I was a little disappointed that everything post-Victorian was only briefly discussed in the short Afterword. I had so looked forward to getting as much detail about the twentieth century as Hattersley had given us about the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries. This slight drawback, however, didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of this book. I particularly loved learning about the family's beginnings, the procuring of land/houses throughout the periods, and the Sixth Duke of Devonshire (1790-1858).

[Bob Pedley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hattersley could have done a lot better. It's crammed with historical detail, a parade of facts and characters altogether too much to be digestible. It's also skewed by Hattersley's contempt for privilege; most of the leading figures are lampooned, one or two are respected. The sleeve notes talk of a family which is intimately entwined in the nation's history; H could have focussed on this aspect much better.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much politics, not enough personality and certainly not the story of a family. Although talked about every Duke, barely mentioned spouses, mistresses or other family members. Spent too many pages on Bess of Hardwick, Arbella Stuart and Georgiana; all of whom have whole books dedicated to them. Not enough included of recent history. The most interesting part was about Joseph Paxton.

[Jane Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hattersley is one of my favourite history writers, and this book doesn't disappoint. It traces the family through from the Tudor period and so we get a journey through English history from a slightly different perspective than is usual.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely well written book on this fascinating family who are completely intertwined with English history. Very much enjoyed it.