William George Spencer Cavendish ( 1790 - 1858 )

Vogues are usually set by persons of influence and renown, thus it was that orchid became fashionable in the glasshouses and conservatories of the British Upper classes.

Through its expanding collection of tropical plants in the early 1800s, the Royal Horticultural Society was influential in introducing new species of orchids, and the Messrs . Loddiges were moderately sucessful in cultivating the epiphytic " air plants" . But the fashion of growing orchids as a hobby really began when the sixth duke of Devonshire became interested in them . The duke's interest was the prelude of a craze which spread throughout the world .

William George Spencer Cavendish , son of the fifth duke of Devonshire and the beautiful Duchess Georgiana , was born in Paris on 21 May 1790. The parents were overjoyed at the birth of a son , for after sixteen years of wedded life and two daughters , the long -desired male heir bad been born . The child was even taken before the queen , and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette , still unsuspecting of their impending doom, showed an interest in the baby.

The young duke-apparent was educated at Trinity College ,Cambridge , England , graduating B.A. in 1811 and proceeding to LL.B. in 1812. In the same year that he gained his initial degree ,his father died, and he succeeded to the title and a great fortune at the age of twenty one . His mother had died five years previously , in 1806 .

The duke had a bountiful natural inheritance besides his material gains-handsome bearing , high rank, and a tendency for extravagance. He had a fine literary taste also , and was especially interested in old English dramatic literature . In 1812 he purchased the library of Thomas Dampier , bishop of Ely, for 10,000 pounds , and in 1821 the dramatic collections of John Kemble. Many of the paintings from Devonshire House and Chiswick were removed to enrich his gallery at Chatsworth.

Public duties were also important to him. As the head of a famous Whig house he remained strong to the liberal tradition of his family . He supported and voted for measures such as Catholic emancipation and the abolition of slavery , and was particularly concerned for the children working in factories for fifteen hours daily . In 1832 he presented a petion in the House of Lords in favor of reducing the number of daily working in factories . Twice he held the office of chamberlain , but resigned finally in 1828. His wealth and standing naturally made him a popular figure in aristrocratic society , and his high spirits and gaiety added t this attraction . In those days he was a personal friend of the Prince Regent .

Though seemingly blessed with good fortune , the duke was afflicted with chronic deafness at an early age , and as this disablity increased , it cut him off more and more from the public duties normal to a man of his rank. This caused a difficult gap in his life, and though he had the markings of statesman , his deafhess closed the door to any such career or endeavor. As time passed he became increasingly lonely. He and his sisters corresponded copiously , for he was greatly attached to his family , but he remained very much at a loss for real occupation and interests. Though he did not go through life without female ties and attachments , he never married. He became known as the " Bachelor Duke" and spent large amounts of money on bookes and works of art-though not very happily-and added a huge wing to Chatsworth. He gave lavish intertainments and balls which were the talk of sciety , and at times his expenditures exceeded evev his large income.

Previous to all this the duke and held no special interest in horticulture , but his home bordered the grounds of the Horticultural Society , and he was frequently wont to stroll from one property to the other on a pleasant day , observing the society's plants and floweres and becoming curious about the activities therein. During his walks he often noticed a short , pleasant-looking young man who , he was told, was the gardener in charge of creepers and new plants. This young man was Joseph Paxton. Paxton's general bearing and alertness were appealing to the duke, and in their talks found Paxton to possess a higher-than-average intelligence. When the post of head gardener at Chatsworth became vacant in the spring of 1826 , it was not surprising , therefore , that Paxon came to mind in regard to filling the position . Paxton was on the point of seeking a career in America, but when the duke's offer came , he accepted quickly .Thus began the formation of a lengthy and enduring friendship.

Teh duke therefore interested himself in horticulture , and under Paxton's supervision his gardens became world renowned . So engrossed became the duke in horticulture activities that he was later elected president fo the Royal Horticultural Society, and it was in a society's exhibit in 1833 that he became enamored of orchids. By this time he had worked up to considerable enthusiasm about gardening , building hot-houses and steadily accumulating tropical plants and orchids at Chatsworth. But rare and desirable plants remained extremely scarce , so it was decided to send a collector to India to bring back new plants. Paxton had an intelligent young man , John Gibson , under his charge at Chatsworth, who, in his opinion , was suited for the task . It was known that the mountains of Assam contained an abundance of tropical plants , especially orchids, and since a new governor-general , Lord Auckland , was about to take up his appointment in India , the duke was able to arrange for Gibson to travel on H.M.S. Jupiter with Auckland to Calcutta . That trip and others involving various collectors proved most successful ,and within ten years the Chatsworth collection of orchids was the most famous in England.

The duke spared no expenses in maintaing and adding to his properties . A magnificient conservatory designed by Paxon-300 feet long , 145 feet wide , 60 feet high -was erected , covering almost an acre of groung. This structure later served partly as a model for the building erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Cavendish also spent huge amounts in the upkeep of his country residences at Chiswick , in Middlesex ,Hardwick Hall , in Derbyshire ; Bolton Abbey , in Yorkshire; and Lismore Castle , in County Waterford.

The duke became a privy councillor and was made at knight of the Order of the Garter in 1827, and from that time until 1834 he was lord chamberlain of the households of George IV and William IV . Among other titles , he was lord-lieutenant of Derbyshire and was elected president of the Royal Horticultural Society on the death of the first holder of the office,T.A. knight , in 1838.

The orchid as a status symbol was a well-established concept by that time, and the desire to own increasingly more of these remarkable plants, both in number of acquisitions and rarity of species , became a mark of the wealthy and landed gentry . And the Chatsworth orchid collection for many years remained the model by which amateur orchidists in England patterned their growing collections.

The duke's deafness had always hapered him, and as he grew older his general health also deteriorated steadily. A nervous semi-hypochondriac disposition frequently paralyzed his activities as well. The decline progressed , and his death occured at Hardwick Hall on 17 January 1858 , at the age of sixty-seven.

The memory of this pioneer orchid hobbyist is still brought to mind in the many species honoring him. Among orchids there are Cymbidium devonianum , Dendrobium devonianum , Oncidium cavendishianum , and Galeandra devoniana.

References

Curtis' Botanical Magazine . 1931.Dedications Portraits 1827-1927.Compiled by Ernest Nelmes and Wm. Cuthbertson. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd.

Markham ,Violet R. 1935. Paxton and Bachelor Duke. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.