Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue

William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (1748-1811), Lord High Treasurer of Ireland

Succeeded as 5th Duke 1764; in Italy 1768-69; KG 1782; the phlegmatic husband successively of Georgiana Spencer and Elizabeth Foster and the patron of Fox, who died in his house at Chiswick; once described as ‘a jewel not yet well polished’.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.