Henry William Portman (died 11 January 1796) was an 18th-century housing developer, the ancestor of the

Viscounts Portman Viscount Portman, in the County of Somerset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 March 1873 for the former Lord Lieutenant of Somerset and Liberal Member of Parliament Edward Portman, 1st Baron Portman. He ha ...

Biography

He was the son and heir of Henry William Berkeley Portman (d.1761), MP, by his wife Anne Fitch. His grandfather was William Berkeley (d.1737) of

Pylle Pylle is a village and civil parish south west of Shepton Mallet, and from Wells, Somerset, Wells, in the Mendip District, Mendip district of Somerset, England. It has a population of 160. The parish includes the hamlet (place), hamlet of Stre ...

, Somerset, who had changed his surname to Portman on becoming heir to his distant cousin

Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet (5 September 1643 – 18 March 1690) FRS was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1661 and 1690. Portman was the son of Sir William Portman, 5th Baronet and his wife Anne Colles, daughte ...

(d.1690) of

Orchard Portman Orchard Portman is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 150. The parish includes the hamlet of Thurlbear and the nearby Thurlbear ...

, SomersetDeed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1735 (9 Geo. 2). c. 22
/ref>—as well as quartering the Portman arms with his own. He succeeded his father in the estates of

Bryanston Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 925. The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an inde ...

and

in 1761, and to the Berkeley estates at

on the death of his aunt Lady Burland. He developed of meadow in London (between

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

and the present site of

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...

) he had inherited from his Tudor ancestor Sir William Portman, turning it into the

Portman Estate The Portman Estate, covering 110 acres of Marylebone in London’s West End, was founded in 1532 when the land was first leased to Sir William Portman. The Portman Estate also has two rural estates in Buckinghamshire and Herefordshire. In addi ...

. He began issuing its first building leases in 1755, and building began in 1764 with

Portman Square Portman Square is a garden square in Marylebone, central London, surrounded by elegant townhouses. It was specifically for private housing let on long leases having a ground rent by the Portman Estate, which owns the private communal gardens. ...

, which was to owe its popularity to buildings by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...

and James ‘Athenian’ Stuart. His development work was continued by his son

Edward Berkeley Portman Edward Berkeley Portman (31 January 1771 – 19 January 1823, Rome) of Bryanston House, Bryanston, Dorset was an 18th-century English housing developer and politician. He was the son of Henry Portman, and ultimately a descendant of the Tudo ...

(d.1823), father of

Edward Berkeley Portman, 1st Viscount Portman Edward Berkeley Portman, 1st Viscount Portman (9 July 1799 – 19 November 1888) was a British Whig politician. He was an active supporter of the Royal Agricultural Society of England from its commencement in 1838, and served as president in 184 ...

(d.1888).

References

External links

*http://www.portmanestate.co.uk/heritage/restoration.html * John Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland'', London 1834, vol. I
p. 62-64
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portman, Henry William Housebuilding companies of the United Kingdom

Henry William Portman Henry William Portman (died 11 January 1796) was an 18th-century housing developer, the ancestor of the Viscounts Portman. Biography He was the son and heir of Henry William Berkeley Portman (d.1761), MP, by his wife Anne Fitch. His grandfather ...