Lord Charles Cavendish FRS (17 March 1704 – 28 April 1783) was a British nobleman, Whig politician and scientist.
Cavendish was the youngest son of William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire and Rachel Russell.
On 9 January 1727, Lord Charles Cavendish married Lady Ann Grey (died 20 September 1733), daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent. They had two children: Henry Cavendish (10 October 1731 – 24 February 1810), considered one of the most accomplished physicists and chemists of his era; and Frederick Cavendish (24 June 1733 – 23 February 1812).
Cavendish entered the House of Commons for Heytesbury in 1725 and would remain a member in various seats until 1741, when he turned the "family seat" of Derbyshire over to his nephew William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington.
In 1757 the Royal Society (of which he was vice-president) awarded him the Copley Medal for his work in the development of thermometers which recorded the maximum and minimum temperatures they had reached.
Famous quotes containing the words lord and/or charles:
“When the people contend for their liberty they seldom get anything by their victory but new masters.”
—George Savile, Lord Halifax (1633–1695)
“I have seen in this revolution a circular motion of the sovereign power through two usurpers, father and son, to the late King to this his son. For ... it moved from King Charles I to the Long Parliament; from thence to the Rump; from the Rump to Oliver Cromwell; and then back again from Richard Cromwell to the Rump; then to the Long Parliament; and thence to King Charles, where long may it remain.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)