William Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham

William George Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham (29 October 1815 – 26 June 1882) was a British Liberal politician.

Early life Chesham was born on 29 October 1815 into the Cavendish family, headed by the Duke of Devonshire. He was the eldest son of Charles Compton Cavendish, 1st Baron Chesham and the former Lady Catherine Susan Gordon. He had two younger sisters, Hon. Susan Sophia Cavendish (wife of Thomas Trevor, 22nd Baron Dacre) and Hon. Harriet Elizabeth Cavendish (second wife of George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford).

Career From 1833 to 1840, Cavendish served as an officer in the 10th Light Dragoons. After leaving the army, Cavendish served as a Lieutenant in the disembodied Royal Buckinghamshire Militia (King's Own), being promoted to Captain in 1846. After the militia was revived the Duke of Devonshire raised the 2nd Derbyshire Militia (Chatsworth Rifles) in 1855 and commissioned him as captain in the new regiment.

In 1847, he was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Peterborough, a seat he held until 1852, and later represented Buckinghamshire, serving alongside Benjamin Disraeli from 1857 to 1863, when he succeeded his father in the barony and took his seat in the House of Lords. His father, a Member of Parliament for nearly forty years, had been created Baron Chesham of Chesham on 15 January 1858.

Personal life On 24 July 1849, Lord Chesham married Henrietta Frances Lascelles (1830–1884) at Kensington Church in London. She was a daughter of Comptroller of the Household Right Hon. William Lascelles (third son of Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood) and his wife Lady Caroline Georgiana Howard (a daughter of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle). Together, they were the parents of: