539 Lord Edward Cavendish

Constituency  :  Sussex  East  1865-8,  North  Derbyshire  1880-85, West  Derbyshire  1885-91  ( from  1886  a  Liberal  Unionist )

Edward  took  the  second  seat  at  Sussex  East  from  the  Tories.

Edward  was  another  brother  of  Lord  Hartington. He  would  have  succeeded  him  as  Duke  of Devonshire  had  he  not  died  first. He  was  educated  at  Cambridge. He  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Rifle  Brigade  and  was  serving  in  Canada  at  the  height  of  the  Trent  affair.. For  a  short  time  he  was  private  secretary  to  Earl  Spencer.

Edward's  defeat  in  1868  was  attributed  to  his  support  for  disestablishing   the  Irish  Church. He supported  the  Irish  Land  Act  of  1881 despite  misgivings  about  interfering  with  freedom  of  contract. He  spoke  against  an  amendment  denying  the  extension  of  the  franchise  to  Ireland  in  1884. Despite Edward's   loyalty  Gladstone  never  rewarded  him  with  office.

Edward  followed  his  brother  into  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886.

He  died  in  1891  aged  53. His  son  Victor  succeeded  him  in  the  seat  and  eventually  became  Duke of  Devonshire.