Lord James Cavendish (MP for Derby)

British Whig politician

Lord James Cavendish FRS (bef. 1707 – 14 December 1751) of Staveley Hall, Derbyshire was a British Whig politician who sat in the English House of Commons and the British House of Commons. He was a son of the 1st Duke of Devonshire and a member of the Cavendish family.

Cavendish was the third son of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire of Chatsworth House, member of the House of Cavendish, and his wife Lady Mary Butler, daughter of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde of Kilkenny Castle, member of the Butler Dynasty. James was a grandson of Countess Elizabeth Cecil of Hatfield House, member of the Salisbury's House of Cecil, a great grandson of Countess Catherine Howard of Audley End House, member of the Ducal House of Howard, and a nephew of John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter of Burghley House, member of the Exeter's House of Cecil. His father was part of the Immortal Seven who brought to power William of Orange as the new King of England, replacing the House of Stuart. At the death of his father, his brother inherited the Dukedom, becoming the 2nd Duke of Devonshire, and was married to Rachel Russell, Lady of the Bedchamber of Queen Anne and granddaughter of the 1st Duke of Bedford of Woburn Abbey. He travelled abroad in France and Italy from 1696 to 1698 and attended Padua University in 1697, in the region of Venetia.

Cavendish was returned as Member of Parliament for Derby in both the general elections of 1701. He did not stand in 1702, but was elected in a contest at the 1705 English general election, defeating the sitting Tories. He voted for the Court candidate in the contest for Speaker on 25 October 1705 and supported the Court on the regency bill proceedings on 18 February 1706. He was returned unopposed for Derby at the 1708 general election. He acted as a teller on the petition of defeated Whig candidates at Coventry and later voted for the naturalization bill in 1709 and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. At the 1710 British general election, he was defeated in a contest for Derby and decided not to stand in 1713. Cavendish was returned as MP for Derby at the 1715 general election and voted for the septennial bill in 1716 and the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts in 1719. He was returned unopposed at the 1722 and 1727 general elections. In the latter parliament he took an independent line, and voted against the government on the Hessians 1730, the army 1732, and the repeal of the Septennial Act 1734, but with them on the Civil List 1729, and the Excise Bill 1733. He was elected in a contest at Derby in 1734 and voted for the place bill 1740. He was returned unopposed at the 1741 general election, but on 8 March 1742 he vacated his seat to take up the post of Auditor of Foreign Accounts or Imposts in Ireland. He did not stand again for Derby at the ensuing by election.