KENNET, White. Memoirs of the Family of Cavendish, With a Continuation of His Grace the present Duke of Devonshire, now Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. By White Kennet D.D.

Dublin: Printed for James Dalton, at the Corner of Brides-Alley, in Patrick-Street, Bookseller, 1737. 12mo. pp. 71, [1]. Uncut. Original pale blue stitched wrappers. Titlepage a little dusty, wrapper a little frayed. A very good copy. Extremely rare.

Jisc locates 5 copies only. ESTC T832.

The Cavendish family is a British noble family, of Anglo-Norman origins (though with an Anglo-Saxon name, originally a place name in Suffolk). They rose to their highest prominence as the dukes of Devonshire and Newcastle. Leading branches have held high offices in English then British politics, especially since the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the participation of William Cavendish, then-earl of Devonshire, in the Invitation to William, though the family appears to date to the Norman Conquest of England, with Cavendish being used (in one form or another) as a surname per se since the beginning of the 13th century. Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This, now the senior branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has been rivalled in political influence perhaps only by the Marquesses of Salisbury and the Earls of Derby.

The Devonshire’s Irish base is Lismore Castle, Co Waterford, with views over the Blackwater Valley and the Knockmealdown Mountains. Lismore Castle was once owned by Sir Walter Raleigh and has been the Irish home of the Dukes of Devonshire since 1753.

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