Lord Edward Cavendish

{{Infobox person

| pre-nominals = Lieutenant-Colonel

| post-nominals = MP

| name = Lord Edward Cavendish

| image = Edward Cavendish, Vanity Fair, 1886-10-02.jpg

| caption = "a good fellow". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1886.

| birth_date = 28 January 1838
Marylebone, London, England

| death_date = 18 May 1891 (aged 53)

| death_place = Marylebone, London, England

| nationality = British

| occupation = Politician, soldier

| title = Lieutenant-Colonel

| spouse = {{marriage|Emma Lascelles|1865|}}

| children = Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire
Lord Richard Cavendish
Lord John Cavendish

| parents = William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire
Lady Blanche Howard

}}

File:East window in St Peter's Church, Edensor.jpg in his memory. Window by Burlison and Grylls dating from 1892.]]

Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Edward Cavendish MP (28 January 1838 – 18 May 1891) was a 19th-century British politician, soldier, and nobleman.

Born in Marylebone, Cavendish was the third son of William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire,The Annual register of world events: a review of the year, Vol.133, ed.Edmund Burke, (Longmans, Green and Co., 1892), 160. by his wife, Lady Blanche Howard (a daughter of the 6th Earl of Carlisle and a niece of the 6th Duke of Devonshire). His father and his two surviving brothers were all Members of Parliament (MPs): his eldest brother Spencer, MP for North Lancashire 1857–91 and later 8th Duke of Devonshire, led the Liberal Party and was asked three times to be Prime Minister by Queen Victoria; the middle brother, Frederick was MP for the West Riding and Chief Secretary for Ireland and was assassinated in 1882.

Cavendish was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade. On retirement from the regular army he joined the 2nd Derbyshire Militia (later the Sherwood Foresters), but transferred to the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment in 1888.

Cavendish served as MP for West Derbyshire from the creation of the constituency until his death. Like his eldest brother, he became a Liberal Unionist in reaction to the Liberal Party's policy on Irish Home Rule. Upon his death in Marylebone aged 53, his son, Victor, was elected unopposed to replace him, later becoming the 9th Duke of Devonshire.

Cavendish married his cousin Emma Lascelles (d. 1920), a daughter of the Rt. Hon. William Lascelles, on 3 August 1865. They had three sons:

Victor Christian William Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (1868–1938)
Lord Richard Frederick Cavendish MP (1871–1946)
Lord John Spencer Cavendish (1875–1914); killed in action in World War I.{{CWGC|id=585193|name=Cavendish, Lord John Spencer|access-date=12 November 2024}}