Lucy Cavendish

Lady Lucy Caroline Cavendish, née Lyttelton (born September 5, 1841, died April 22, 1925) was the wife of the assassinated Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and a pioneer of women's education. Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge is named after her.

Born into the aristocracy, she became a Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria in 1863. The following year she married Lord Frederick Cavendish, the second-eldest son to the Duke of Devonshire. It is here that her link with the University of Cambridge began, as her father-in-law was the University's Chancellor.

Lucy Cavendish had an interest in women's education and pursued this after the death of Lord Frederick in 1884. The following year she took up post as President of the Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education at which she remained until 1912. She declined the offer of becoming the Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge in 1884 but, during her time of service as President, she also became a member of other groups including the Royal Commission on Secondary Education and was a founding member of the Council of the Girls' Public Day School Company (which had been founded by her father the 4th Lord Lyttleton).

She was bestowed with the first ever honorary degree awarded from Leeds University. She died on 22 April 1925.

External links

* [http://www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/media/college/documents/naming-of-college.pdf Lucy Cavendish College - Naming the College] (PDF)