Deborah Cavendish (1920–2014)

Deborah Cavendish, née Freeman-Mitford, was born at Asthall Manor, the estate in Oxfordshire, England, of her parents Sydney and David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale. She was the youngest of six sisters and a brother in this eccentric family. They were made famous by the writings of her older sister Nancy and the political activities of Diana, Unity, and Jessica. She grew up with governesses but had no formal education as her parents thought it was wasted on girls, who were expected to marry. Deborah astonished them at age 21 by marrying Andrew Cavendish, the surviving second son of the 10th Duke of Devonshire. When Andrew's father died in 1950, he became the 11th Duke, inheriting vast wealth, including a castle in Ireland and Chatsworth, the legendary 35,000-acre estate in Derbyshire that had been in his family since the mid-16th century. However, it came with inheritance taxes of nearly $20 million and enormous maintenance costs. And like many of Britain's grand country houses, Chatsworth House was outmoded and rundown. The Duchess made it her life's work to transform the estate into a self-sustaining family business. She extensively renovated and modernized Chatsworth House, created a market to sell meat, produce, and other comestibles made on the estate, and opened gift shops, restaurants, boutiques, and two hotels nearby. She lectured on farming, drawing thousands of people a year. Chatsworth finally became self-sufficient for the first time in 2002, covering its annual $6.5 costs with income from the Chatsworth House Trust and proceeds from visitors and the businesses she had started. Beginning with Chatsworth: The House in 1980, the Duchess wrote more than a dozen books, including more on Chatsworth and volumes of essays, reminiscences, cookbooks, and letters exchanged with her friend Patrick Leigh Fermor. Her memoir Wait for Me! was published in 2010. She and her husband had seven children, four of whom died shortly after birth. In 1999, she was named a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) by Queen Elizabeth II.