CAVENDISH, Henry Manners, 3rd baron Waterpark [I] (1793-1863), of Doveridge Hall , Derbyshire

An Irish peer and kinsman of the 6^th duke of Devonshire, Waterpark ‘belonged to the old Whig school’.1Derby Mercury, 15 Apr. 1863. Descended from Henry Cavendish (1550-1616), the elder brother of the 1st earl of Devonshire, his paternal grandmother, Sarah, daughter of Richard Bradshaw of Cork, was created 1st Baroness Waterpark, with remainder to her sons, in 1792.2HP Commons, 1820-1832, iv. 604-6. Six months after succeeding his father in June 1830, Waterpark was returned as Devonshire’s nominee for Knaresborough, and again at the 1831 general election. In 1832 he offered for the newly created constituency of South Derbyshire, in which his seat, Doveridge Hall, was situated. Due to his limited means, his candidature was supported by subscription, which led to claims that he was a tool of the Strutts, the local textile manufacturers.3Ibid.; C. Hogarth, ‘The Derbyshire parliamentary elections of 1832’, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal (1969), lxxix. 68-85 (at 80); Derby Mercury, 19 Dec. 1832. At the nomination he emphasised his credentials as a Reformer, but ‘indignantly denied’ reports that he had been seen in a brothel.4Ibid. He was returned in second place alongside fellow Whig, the Hon. George John Vernon. In his acceptance speech, Waterpark admitted that he had been the duke’s candidate in a rotten borough, but said he now revelled in his election for an independent constituency.5Derby Mercury, 26 Dec. 1832.

When he attended Parliament, Waterpark generally voted with ministers, and opposed radical measures such as currency reform and the ballot.6The Times, 13 Feb. 1833, 26, 29 Apr. 1833; Derby Mercury, 13 Mar. 1833. He served on the Southampton election committee in 1833 and the following year on Vernon’s select committee on the sale of corn, and an inquiry into the navigation of the river Shannon.7H. Perry and J. Knapp, Cases of controverted elections in the eleventh Parliament of the United Kingdom (1833), 213; CJ lxxxviii. 216; PP 1834 (517), viii. 2; 1834 (532), xvii. 142.

He stood again for South Derbyshire at the 1835 election, and had to carry the fight on behalf of Vernon, who was absent for the entire campaign, against two Tories. His prospects were not helped by reports that he had voted in only 22 out of 230 divisions since his election, leading one voter to accuse him of a ‘flagrant, ungenerous and unjustifiable neglect of your duties to the public in general and to your constituents in particular’, which he disputed.8Derby Mercury, 10, 17, 31 Dec. 1834, 21 Jan. 1835. He also held a meeting to deny claims that he had been given two black eyes in a brothel by one of his opponent’s tenants.9Derby Mercury, 17 Dec. 1834.

He came bottom of the poll, but remained active in local politics, being elected president of North Staffordshire Reform Association in 1837, and again contested South Derbyshire unsuccessfully in 1841, apparently after the refusal of other Liberals to come forward.10Derby Mercury, 6 Dec. 1837, 16, 23 June 1841, 14 July 1841. Thereafter he held a number of appointments in the royal household and concentrated on his duties with the Derbyshire militia, though he was returned unopposed as the Anson family nominee for Lichfield, 9 May 1854, after his wife’s nephew succeeded as 2nd earl of Lichfield.11Derby Mercury, 5, 12 Apr. 1854, 17 May 1854; Morn. Chro., 10 May 1854. When present he generally voted with the bulk of the Liberal party and fulfilled a pledge to vote for Berkeley’s ballot motion.12House of Commons divisions lists, 1854-55 session, 8 Apr. 1855, 22 May 1855; Derby Mercury, 16 Apr. 1855. He sat on the committee on the Downing Street offices extension bill, but resigned, 23 May 1856, the Times observing that he had ‘not been very conspicuous’ in his parliamentary duties.13PP 1854-55 (382), vii. 202; The Times, 23 May 1856.

As an elder statesman, he played a role in the revival of Liberal fortunes in South Derbyshire, acting as chaperone to Thomas William Evans and Augustus Henry Vernon during the election campaigns of 1857 and 1859 respectively. The vague politics of both young candidates, which aroused complaints, may have owed something to the wisdom Waterpark imparted, as he told voters in 1857: ‘Whoever the candidate may be, let us trust him and not ask too much of him. Having had a good deal of experience myself in these matters when out canvassing, I feel that sometimes more questions were asked me than I could satisfactorily answer.’14Derby Mercury, 18 May 1857.

Waterpark died in 1863 and was succeeded by his only son, Henry Anson (1863-1912). On the death of his bachelor grandson Charles Frederick (1883-1932) the titles reverted to the descendants of his brother, and survive today, although Doveridge Hall was demolished in 1938.15Burke’s Peerage (1939), ii. 2520-21; G. Turbutt, A history of Derbyshire (1999), iv. 1631, 1662.