Charlotte Williams

Charlotte Williams:

• Is the first born illegitimate child of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire.

Due to the abruptly severly stricter rules of permitted additions, to William Cavendish´s profile and lineages, I was unable to add her biological mother, to the tree... as William´s profile is "locked due to bad merges" and upon requesting, an "unlock" in order to add Charlotte, I was told, I needed higher academic level source material, in order to be granted such permission.

And although, there are absolutely no higher academic level sources for ANY of this Cavendish Branch... listed anywhere, here on Geni, by ANYONE..... I have been told that I am expected to produce such for this profile addition. So, though, she is the natural child of William, she is not Georgina´s biological daughter.

I have located her, both on the Peerage and on another site, where full records have been researched and located by 2 genealogist/historians. And I will continue to persue researching for source material of "higher academic level" and add these, where and when located.

These are as follows:

http://thepeerage.com/p65764.htm#i657634

https://georgianera.wordpress.com/?s=Charlotte+Williams

and the information researched by them, also, follows:

From the article- "What became of Charlotte Williams, illegitimate daughter of the 5th Duke of Devonshire?" FEBRUARY 15, 2015 ALL THINGS GEORGIAN NPG D1752; (William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire by John Raphael Smith, after Sir Joshua Reynolds Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery)

"

• You may be aware that just before William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire married Georgiana Spencer in 1774 he had had a relationship with a Charlotte Spencer (no relation to Georgiana) and that as a result of this liaison a child was born.
• This child was named Charlotte, after her mother and Williams after her father, but not until her mother had died in 1781.
• During the early part of her life she was provided for by the Duke, but raised by her mother, a milliner, until she died.
• After the death of her Mother, Charlotte was taken into the Cavendish household and lived with him and his wife Georgiana as an ‘orphaned member of the Spencer family’.
• Georgiana always treated Charlotte as if she were her own child.

(NPG D35170; Georgiana Cavendish (nÈe Spencer), Duchess of Devonshire published by Excelsior Fine Art Association, with permission of Henry Graves & Co, after Robert Graves, after Thomas Gainsborough Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery)

• Charlotte acquires a new governess, Elizabeth Foster, who later became the Duke’s mistress. Soon after this Elizabeth took Charlotte to France, partly for her own health and partly for Charlotte’s education.
• Charlotte was then, sent to Paris until the start of the French Revolution when she returned to England.

(Elizabeth Christiana Cavendish (née Hervey), Duchess of Devonshire when Lady Elizabeth Foster. Image from The Two Duchesses by Vere Foster, 1898.) (Elizabeth Christiana Cavendish (née Hervey), Duchess of Devonshire when Lady Elizabeth Foster. Image from The Two Duchesses by Vere Foster, 1898.)

So, what became of Charlotte? This question has been asked numerous times and the answer has always been that she was married off, then simply vanished. Given our love of solving mysteries we simply had to investigate. We had read in Amanda Foreman’s book, The Duchess, that Charlotte married – if that were true, who was her husband? Did she have her own family? What happened to her?

• On the 28th February 1793 Charlotte marries.
• She married the Duke of Devonshire’s agent, John Heaton’s nephew, Jonathan Kendal, at St James The Less, Thorndike Street, London.
• The Morning Post of the 1st March 1793 noted that they were both of Old Burlington Street.
• His baptism Jonathan was some nine years older than Charlotte and Robert Athol, the Archives and Records Manager at Lincolns Inn Library, says that Jonathan was ‘admitted on 21st February 1784, the nephew of John Heaton, also a member of Lincoln’s Inn. He is not listed in our bar books that list members of the Inn who have been called to the bar, however, nor does he appear in any of the Law lists for the time which suggests to me that although he was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn, he didn’t pursue a career in law’.
• The Land Tax records: The Heaton family were living in property owned by the Duke of Devonshire on Old Burlington Street.
• Birth Year Conflicting Factoid: If, as assumed, Charlotte was born 1774, then she had not reached adulthood when the couple married, i.e. she was under 21-years. That being the case it is usual to see parent’s permission on the marriage entry but there was no such reference as you can see. Does that mean that she was actually born earlier than previously thought, or did no-one check her age at marriage?

(Charlotte Williams marriage Record is Pictured in this space)

• The couple lived at Barrowby in Lincolnshire for the majority of their married life as Jonathan appeared on Polls books and electoral registers in that village for many years.
• According to the Clergy of the Church of England Database, on the 10th March 1800, Jonathan became a curate and served in the church for the remainder of his life; the living of Barrowby was in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire who was Lord of the Manor.
• He was also, appointed as Domestic Chaplain to the 6th Duke of Devonshire.
• The 1841 census: the couple married and living at Barrowby at the Rectory House, along with 7 servants.
• Their son was born 1797 and followed in his father’s footsteps. After graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge he became the Rev Charles Edward Kendal, stipendiary curate of Barrowby in 1821.
• Her son be married by her husband to a Miss Catherine Downing in Barrowby church in 1825.
• According to the parish register at Barrowby Jonathan was buried there on the 11th May 1849. Charlotte outlived Jonathan by just over 7 years.
• After Jonathan’s death we find that Charlotte had moved to Leamington in Warwickshire, and on the 1851 census she was visiting a relative in Dover. The census recorded her as a widow, aged 78 and her place of birth as London.

(Barrowby_Lincolnshire,All_Saints_Church All Saints Church Barrowby, Lincolnshire) The next and final record of Charlotte appeared in "The Standard of Saturday 13th December 1856"

• The record of her death:

On the 8th Inst. in Newbold Terrace, Leamington Charlotte, the relict of Rev Jonathan Kendal, Rector of Barrowby, in her 84th year.

• For some reason her wish to be buried in the same vault as her husband in Barrowby was not carried out and she was buried at Leamington Priors on the 15th December 1856.

Overall, it would appear that the mystery is now solved."

Abridged and Edited solely to avoid direct copy and comply with permissions injury statements.

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