She was the elder daughter of politician and diplomat Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, and grew up amidst public life.

Evelyn held the position of Mistress of the Robes to Queen Mary from 1910 until 1916, when she accompanied her husband upon his appointment as Governor General of Canada.

The Dowager Duchess, widowed since 1938, spent her final years living at Hardwick Hall, which was made over to HM Treasury in 1956, in part payment of death duties.

[3] Evelyn was married on 30 July 1892 to Victor Cavendish, the nephew and heir of the 8th Duke of Devonshire[1][4] and the youngest member of the House of Commons.

[5] They and their growing family resided at Holker Hall in Lancashire, and would be sad to leave it to Lord Richard Cavendish upon Victor's accession as Duke of Devonshire in 1908.

[7] As part of the celebrations for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, Victor's uncle hosted the Devonshire House Ball, one of the event's most extravagant parties.

[18] The Duke of Devonshire's tenure in Canada ended in 1921,[16] and the Duchess resumed her role as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Mary, holding the appointment from 1921 to the latter's death in 1953.

"[23] The Duchess gained more authority over his estates, destroying its Decimus Burton-designed conservatory and saving expenses by introducing nettle soup to Chatsworth House,[1] but their affairs "gradually went downhill.

"[23] He died in May 1938;[23] after his death, the Duchess took up residence at Hardwick Hall, where she oversaw a significant amount of repair work of its tapestries and embroideries.