Background
John Cavendish was descended from the Norman Robert de Gernon, who lived during the reign of Henry I and who gave a large amount of property to the Abbey of Gloucester.
John Cavendish was descended from the Norman Robert de Gernon, who lived during the reign of Henry I and who gave a large amount of property to the Abbey of Gloucester.
He and the village gave the name Cavendish to the aristocratic families of the Dukedoms of Devonshire, Newcastle and Portland. He is an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth World War II Robert"s son, also called Robert de Gernon, of Grimston Hall, Suffolk, married the heiress of John Potton of Cavendish and obtained a landed estate in the lordship and manor of Cavendish. John was the eldest of the sons.
One of John"s brothers, Roger Cavendish, was the ancestor of Thomas Cavendish known as "The Navigator".
Sir John Cavendish became a lawyer and was appointed as a Justice of the Common Pleas in 1371 and Chief Justice of the King"s Bench in 1372. He was also elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
As Chief Justice he was obliged to suppress the Peasants" Revolt in 1381. Although Wat Tyler, the leader of the revolt was struck down by William Walworth, mayor of London, during negotiations on 15 June, John Cavendish, the second son of the Chief Justice, gave the finishing stroke to Wat Tyler, the lord mayor having only wounded him in the neck.
As a result of this, the father, Sir John Cavendish, was pursued by the peasants.
He reached Saint Mary"s Church, Cavendish, where he pleaded sanctuary by grasping the handle of the church door. This was to no avail, however, and he was taken to the market place at Bury Saint Edmunds and beheaded by a mob led by Jack Straw on 15 June 1381. He was buried in Bury Saint Edmunds.
Saint Mary"s Church, Cavendish, benefited from a large bequest made by Sir John and had its chancel refurbished.
Sir John"s great-grandsons were William Cavendish (2nd husband of Bess of Hardwick) and George Cavendish, William"s brother and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey"s biographer.