Author. She was a 20th-century English author who was also an aristocrat and socialite as the 11th Duchess of Devonshire, DCVO. She was the youngest and last surviving of the six Mitford sisters, who were prominent members of British society in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born to David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and Sydney Bowles, daughter of Thomas Gibson Bowles, MP. She married Andrew Cavendish, younger son of the 10th Duke of Devonshire, in 1941 and became the Duchess of Devonshire after her brother-in-law was killed in action in 1944. She and the duke had seven children, four of whom died shortly after birth. She was the driving force behind the restoration of the Duke of Devonshire family's seat, Chatsworth, and the estate gardens, as well as creating several commercial enterprises, including Chatsworth Farm Shop, Chatsworth Design, and Chatsworth Estate Trading. Beginning in 1980, she penned 12 books about her life, including a memoir titled "Wait for Me!" in 2010 and "The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters" in 2007.
Author. She was a 20th-century English author who was also an aristocrat and socialite as the 11th Duchess of Devonshire, DCVO. She was the youngest and last surviving of the six Mitford sisters, who were prominent members of British society in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born to David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and Sydney Bowles, daughter of Thomas Gibson Bowles, MP. She married Andrew Cavendish, younger son of the 10th Duke of Devonshire, in 1941 and became the Duchess of Devonshire after her brother-in-law was killed in action in 1944. She and the duke had seven children, four of whom died shortly after birth. She was the driving force behind the restoration of the Duke of Devonshire family's seat, Chatsworth, and the estate gardens, as well as creating several commercial enterprises, including Chatsworth Farm Shop, Chatsworth Design, and Chatsworth Estate Trading. Beginning in 1980, she penned 12 books about her life, including a memoir titled "Wait for Me!" in 2010 and "The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters" in 2007.
Bio by: Erin
Inscription
Andrew Robert
Buxton Cavendish
XI Duke of Devonshire
KG PC MC
2 January 1920
- 3 May 2004
and His Wife
Deborah Vivien
DCVO
nee Mitford
31 March 1920
- 24 September 2014
Family Members
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