Charles Compton William Cavendish, 3rd Baron Chesham Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Personal Computer, Doctor of Laws, styled The Honourable Charles Cavendish between 1863 and 1882, was a British soldier, courtier and Conservative politician.
Background
A member of the Cavendish family headed by the Duke of Devonshire, Chesham was the eldest son of William Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham and his wife Henrietta Frances Lascelles, daughter of William Lascelles. Lord Chesham took his seat in the House of Lords on his father"s death in 1882.
Career
He served as the last Master of the Buckhounds under Lord Salisbury from 1900 to 1901. In November 1900 he was appointed Master of the Buckhounds under Lord Salisbury. However, as Chesham was serving in South Africa, Lord Churchill was appointed to act as Master of the Buckhounds in his absence.
Chesham remained Master until the office was abolished the following year.
He was admitted to the Privy Council in July 1901, and also served as a Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales (later King George V) from 1901 to 1907. Chesham served as Lieutenant colonel of the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry from 1889.
In January 1900 he was appointed in command of the 10th battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry (which included companies from Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire), serving in the Second Boer War, and received the temporary rank of Colonel in the Army. Later that year, he was promoted to Brigadier general and in November 1900 appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath) for his services (he was invested by King Edward VII at Marlborough House 25 July 1901 during a brief visit to London).
From 1901 he was Inspector general of Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa, with the local rank of Major-general.
He relinquished his commission and was granted the honorary rank of Major-General in the Army on 22 January 1902, leaving South Africa the following month by the steamer Rated Maximum Sinusoidal Kinfauns Castle. After his return to the United Kingdom, he was in late April 1902 appointed Inspector General of Imperial Yeomanry (at Army Headquarters) with the temporary rank of Major-General whilst so employed. Lord Chesham was appointed to the honorary colonelcy of the Buckinghamshire Imperial Yeomanry (Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars) on 19 March 1902.
Lieutenant the Honourable Charles William Hugh Cavendish (1878-1900), 2nd Lieutenant in the 17th Lancers, killed in South Africa during the Second Boer War
Honourable Lilah Constance Cavendish (1884-1944), married 1903 Sir Mervyn Manningham-Buller, 3rd Baronet (1876-1956)
Honourable Marjorie Beatrice Cavendish (1888-1897)
John Compton Cavendish, 4th Baron Chesham (1894-1952)
Lord Chesham died in November 1907, aged 56, after a hunting accident.
There is a bronze statue commemorating his life and deeds located in the Market Square in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire which has Grade II Listed Building status. He was succeeded in the barony by his second but eldest surviving son John.