Charlotte was the only surviving daughter of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, and Lady Dorothy Savile.
Her father was one of the foremost collectors and patrons of art and architecture of his age. Nicknamed the ‘Apollo of the Arts’ and the ‘Architect Earl’ he championed Palladian architecture and promoted William Kent and Georg Frideric Handel among others.
Her mother was the daughter of the 2nd Marquess of Halifax, and was also proficient in the arts, being a skilled amateur painter and draughtswoman.
Charlotte was her father's heiress, and it is through her that the Burlington Estates came into the possession of the Devonshires. This included the properties at Chiswick, Londesborough, Bolton Abbey, Lismore, Burlington House in London, and the entirety of her father’s art collection, including his vast collection of architectural drawings by the likes of Inigo Jones, Andrea Palladio and John Webb. She also inherited, through him, the title of Baroness Clifford, which she held in her own right.
Charlotte married William Cavendish, Marquis of Hartington, in 1748. Her mother-in-law, Catherine, Duchess of Devonshire, was vehemently opposed to the match and was never reconciled to Charlotte. The marriage had been arranged when the couple were children and Catherine feared it would not be a success. The couple, however, had a happy marriage, resulting in four children: William (5th Duke), Dorothy, Richard, George.
Sadly, she died from smallpox in 1754, aged only 23. She never became Duchess of Devonshire, he husband only succeeding to the title in 1755.
