88 SIR WILLIAM CAVENDISH 1557- 



Monastery, riding by the way, the same Dr. Leigh and Wm. Cavendish 



sent unto the said late Abbott for the said £i& they confess that the said 



late Abbott sent it to them by one of their servants by way of free 



gifte to be good Masters unto him and his Brethren. And as the said 



Cavendishe doth affirm by his answer, and also by the said Dr. Leigh 



confessing the same. 



Signed, John Daunce, Knt. 



We are not aware whether any record remains of the ultimate 

 (letermination of these charges, but we know that Sir WiUiam 

 Cavendish must have been able to clear himself entirely; for 

 not only was he continued in office, but he was appointed to 

 the responsible office of Auditor of the Court of Augmentation, 

 and was constituted Treasurer of the Chamber to Henry VIII., 

 and continued in that office in the reigns of Edward VI. and 

 Queen Mary. He was also admitted to the Privy Council. 



We sometimes see the families of Russells and 

 Cavendishes named together as holders of large amounts of 

 monastic property, and thus enriched and founded upon its 

 possession. We know that Tavistock, Wobum, and Thorney 

 Abbeys were granted to John, Lord Russell, and are yet the 

 Duke of Bedford's. We are not aware that any such large and 

 valuable estates were granted to Sir William Cavendish. His 

 name is not mentioned by Spelman, or Burnett, or Froude. 

 As far as we are aware (and we may be pardoned for naming it) 

 the estates of the family have come through the four marriages 

 of Elizabeth Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury, and the 

 marriages with heiresses, such as the fourth .Duke of Devon- 

 shire with the heiress of the Earl of Burlington and Cork, which 

 brought Lismore in Ireland, and Bolton Abbey and 

 Eanesborough and Chiswick in England ; and other marriages 

 which brought Eastbourne and Holker. 



Sir William Cavendish received, however, a certain amount 

 of monastic lands as a free gift, iind also bought a certain 

 amount, but the exact quantity of either of these it is probably 

 now impossible to say. The following records of his purchases 

 and grants are preserved : — 



Wm. Cavendishe, one of the Auditors of the Court of Augmentations, 

 and Margaret his Wife Grant in Fee for ^769 8s. 4d. (about ;^Sooo in 

 present Value). 



