Abstract
This chapter is about Holker Hall overlooking Morecambe Bay; Cavendish believed the manor belonged to him.
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Notes
- 1.
Barrow, Royal Society, 146.
- 2.
The first survey of the Lancashire estate in 1775, 30 years after Sir Thomas’s death, put Cartmel-Holker at 2,860 acres and Furness at 3,559 acres. J. V. Beckett, “The Lowthers at Holker: Marriage, Inheritance and Debt in the Fortunes of an Eighteenth-Century Landowning Family,” Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 127 (1978): 47–64, on 47–51.
- 3.
Thomas Lowther to James Lowther, 8 August 1728, Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle, D/Lons/W/39.
- 4.
Thomas Lowther to James Lowther, 26 September 1728, ibid.
- 5.
His debt was £4,880 at his death. Beckett, “Lowthers at Holker,” 51.
- 6.
Edward Butler to John Fletcher, 16 May 1745, Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/3/1.
- 7.
Charles Cavendish to John Fletcher, 18 July 1745, draft, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, L/43/14. Fletcher was steward of the Lancashire estate, Holker and Furness. Cavendish was sworn in as administrator on 30 July 1745. Charles Cavendish to John Fletcher, draft, 30 July 1745, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, box 43/14. This bundle contains one notebook of Cavendish’s guardian account for William and two notebooks of his administrator’s accounts and correspondence for Thomas Lowther’s estate. Drafts of his letters to the estate stewards and copies (probably incomplete) of their letters to him are contained in this correspondence, 1745–48. Administrator appointment, 17 August 1745, Devonshire and Collections, box 31/11.
- 8.
Charles Cavendish to John Fletcher, 27 July 1745, Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/5.
- 9.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 13 March 1746, draft, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, box 43/14.
- 10.
Charles Cavendish to John Fletcher, 20 July [1745], Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/5.
- 11.
Charles Cavendish to John Fletcher, 13 August 1745, ibid.
- 12.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 13 March 1746, draft, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, box 43/14.
- 13.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 20 May 1746, draft, ibid.
- 14.
William Richardson to Charles Cavendish, 2 May 1746, copy, ibid.
- 15.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 21 June 1746, Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/7.
- 16.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 27 December 1746, ibid.
- 17.
On his sister’s behalf he also paid “Mr. Duffield,” who received regular payments up to £180 each time, and “Mrs. Potter.” Various dates in “Guardians Account” and in an untitled notebook containing six pages of accounts, 1745–48, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, box 43/14.
- 18.
On 9 January 1747, the steward, Danby, for the Yorkshire estate informed Charles that John Lowther had died. “Sr W. Lowther’s Estate,” Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, box 43/14.
- 19.
Thomas Birch Diary (5 June 1753).
- 20.
Thomas Lowther to James Lowther, 6 June 1734, Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle, D/Lons/W.
- 21.
Joshua Dixon, The Literary Life of William Brownrigg … (London, 1801), 5.
- 22.
This was in 1733. Young, “Cavendish,” 436. Anon., “Sir James Lowther, 4th Baronet.” Anon., “William Brownrigg,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brownrigg.
- 23.
Cavendish signed Lowther’s certificate. 20 May 1736, Journal Book, Royal Society 15: 331.
- 24.
“Some Observations upon the Several Damps in the Coal Mines near Whitehaven by Dr Willm Brownrig Phisitian of that Town Communicated by Him to Sr James Lowther Bart,” Cavendish Scientific Manuscripts, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth.
- 25.
Henry Newman to James Lowther, 26 August 1732, Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle, D/Lons/L1/1/53.
- 26.
There are many letters from Thomas to James Lowther in the Carlisle archive. Charles Cavendish also visited Whitehaven. Thomas Lowther to James Lowther, 11 July 1734, ibid., D/Lons/W/37.
- 27.
H. Fox to William, Lord Hartington, 4 January 1755, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, No. 330.30.
- 28.
K. Devonshire to the fourth Duke of Devonshire, 15 April 1756, ibid., No. 344.8. I assume the letter writer is Katherine, wife of the recently deceased 3d duke of Devonshire.
- 29.
Ducannon to William, 4th duke of Devonshire, 15 April 1756, ibid., No. 294.46.
- 30.
Beckett, “Lowthers at Holker,” 52. Also Sir William left all of the buildings at Cockermouth, near Whitehaven in Cumberland, to Charles Cavendish to hold in trust for young James Lowther.
- 31.
Theophilus Lindsey to Francis, 10th earl of Huntington, 25 May 1756, Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on the Manuscripts of the Late Reginald Rawdon Hastings, Esq., of the Manor House, Ashby de la Zouch, vol. 3, ed. F. Bickley (London: His Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1934), 117.
- 32.
Horace Walpole to George Montagu, 20 April 1756, in Horace Walpole, Correspondence, 48 vols., ed. W. S. Lewis (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1941) 9: 183–87, on 185.
- 33.
Will of William Lowther, dated 7 April 1755, probated 22 April 1756, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, L/31/47.
- 34.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 27 April, 13, 27 May 1756, Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/7. Cavendish’s list: arrears of rent; bonds, notes, etc.; furniture, plate, etc.; coal debts; coals raised; wagons, carts, etc.; horses; tools; corn, hay, etc.; timber in yard; timber felled; material for buildings not used; ships; engines; leasehold estates & collieries.
- 35.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 26 June 1756, Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/7.
- 36.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 29 June 1756, ibid.
- 37.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 27 July 1756, ibid.
- 38.
Catherine Lowther to James Lowther, 11 July 1756, Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle, D/Lons/L1/61.
- 39.
Catherine Lowther to James Lowther, 8 July 1756, ibid.
- 40.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 8 May 1756, Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/7.
- 41.
Cavendish to Richardson, 27 April 1756.
- 42.
“Heads of What Is Agreed on between Ld Charles Cavendish & Sr James Lowther,” [before 19 July 1756], Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle, D/Lons/L1/62.
- 43.
Catherine Lowther to James Lowther, 19 July 1756, ibid., D/Lons/L1/61.
- 44.
“Sr W. & Sr J. Lowthers’ Wills & Papers Relating to Law Suit between L.C.C. & Sr J. Lowther,” Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, L/31/17. Cavendish appealed the decision concerning the £30,000.
- 45.
Jungnickel and McCormmach, Cavendish (1999), 93–94.
- 46.
Becker, “Lowthers at Holker,” 52.
- 47.
Plus several small annuities.
- 48.
Becker, “Lowthers at Holker,” 64. Not all of James’s income would have gone to William. For example, he left his South Sea annuities to young James, who would have received the dividends. Sir James Lowther’s will, 1754, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, L/31/17.
- 49.
Becker, “Lowthers at Holker,” 52.
- 50.
Because of his very short life as a very wealthy man, not much can be made of the record we have of it. His income from 5 July 1755 to 25 May 1756 (the month after his death) was £11,640. His expenses were £8,251, which included large payments to Girolamo Belloni, the head of a family bank in Rome. “Sr William Lowther Bart His Account with Robt Snow & Willm Denne 1755,” 5 July 1755 to 25 May 1756, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, box 43/14.
- 51.
Cavendish to Richardson, 8 May 1756. Cavendish directed his steward to continue William’s generosity by distributing £50 to persons in the neighborhood who were most in need, as William would have done were he alive.
- 52.
Catherine Lowther to James Lowther, April 1756, Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle, D/Lons/L1/61.
- 53.
Catherine Lowther to James Lowther, 28 October 1756, ibid.
- 54.
“Lowther, James, Earl of Lonsdale (1736–1802),” DNB, 1ST ed., 12: 217–20, on 219.
- 55.
Donaldson, Brewer’s Rogues, 409.
- 56.
Horace Walpole to George Montagu, 20 April 1756, in Walpole, Correspondence 9: 183–87, on 184–85.
- 57.
William Lowther’s will, 7 April 1755, probated 22 April 1756, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, L/36/47. He died on 15 April 1756.
- 58.
Charles Cavendish to William Richardson, 28 December 1756, Lancashire Record Office, DDCa 22/7.
- 59.
George Augustus Cavendish’s will, signed 9 March 1792, probated 12 July 1794, Public Record Office, National Archives, Prob 12/1247. He died on 2 May 1794. He used the same expression for his estates in the county of Huntington: “at the time of my decease into the person or persons who shall upon my death succeed or become entitled to those estates.”
- 60.
Frederick Cavendish’s will, signed 24 January 1797, probated 29 October 1803, Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB 112/1399/369.
- 61.
The 1803 land tax return was dated 7 July. The 1804 land tax return was dated 28 June. George Augustus Henry Cavendish’s name is listed from 1804 through the year of Henry Cavendish’s death, 1810, and beyond. Lancaster County Archives, QDL/LN/23.
- 62.
From his conversation with Barrow, it seems that Cavendish knew the manor and its setting. Possibly his father brought him there on one or more of his many visits. In 1786, on a journey with Blagden, he passed into Cumbria, but there is no mention of Holker Hall. Blagden to Banks, 4 September 1786.
- 63.
The documents are in Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth, L/36/62.
- 64.
Henry Cavendish, “Walnut Cabinet in Bed Chamber,” Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth.
- 65.
Henry Cavendish, “List of Papers Classed,” Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth.
- 66.
Henry Cavendish, “Keys at London,” Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth.
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McCormmach, R. (2014). Cavendishes, Lowthers, and Holker Hall. In: The Personality of Henry Cavendish - A Great Scientist with Extraordinary Peculiarities. Archimedes, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02438-7_15
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