Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588 in England and became a tutor to William Cavendish at Hardwick Hall in 1608, beginning a close relationship between Hobbes and the wealthy Cavendish family that would last decades. Hobbes rose to prominence through his association with the Cavendishes and published influential works on political philosophy and natural science. Though he went into exile during the English Civil War due to his royalist views, Hobbes maintained ties with the Cavendishes and returned to Derbyshire in his old age, dying there in 1679 and being buried at St. Johns the Baptist Church in Ault Hucknall by the Cavendishes. His tombstone there commemorates his long service and close bond with the Cavendish ear