Early Life
Cavendish was born in 1560 at Trimley St. Martin near Ipswich, Suffolk, England. His father was William Cavendish; he was a descendant of Roger Cavendish, brother to Sir John Cavendish from whom the Dukes of Devonshire and the Dukes of Newcastle derive their family name of Cavendish.
When Cavendish was 12 he inherited a fortune from his deceased father William, but after leaving school at age 17, for the next 8 years or so he spent most of it on luxurious living. At the age of 15 he attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University for two years, but did not take a degree. He was a member of the Parliament for Shaftesbury, Dorset, in 1584. He sailed with Sir Richard Grenville to Virginia in 1585 gaining much valuable experience but losing money on his investments. He was a member of Parliament for Wilton, 1586.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Cavendish
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“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
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