William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, (14 April 173830 October 1809) was a British
Whig and then a
Tory politician during the late
Georgian era. He served as
Chancellor of the University of Oxford
This is a list of chancellors of the University of Oxford in England by year of appointment.
__TOC__
Chronological list
See also
* List of vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford
* List of University of Oxford people
* List of chanc ...
(1792–1809) and twice as Prime Minister of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
(1783) and then of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
(1807–1809). The gap of 26 years between his two terms as Prime Minister is the longest
of any British Prime Minister. He was also the fourth great-grandfather of
King Charles III through his great-granddaughter
Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
Portland was known before 1762 by the
courtesy title Marquess of Titchfield. He held a title for every degree of British nobility: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. He was the leader of the Portland Whigs faction, which broke with the
Whig leadership of
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled '' The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-ri ...
and joined with
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ir ...
in the wake of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
.
Early life and education
Lord Titchfield was the eldest son of
William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland and
Margaret Cavendish-Harley
Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (11 February 1715 – 17 July 1785) was a British aristocrat, styled Lady Margaret Harley before 1734, Duchess of Portland from 1734 to her husband's death in 1761, and Dowager Duchess of Por ...
and inherited many lands from his mother and his maternal grandmother, who was the daughter of
John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
John Holles, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, KG, PC (9 January 1662 – 15 July 1711) was an English peer.
Early life
Holles was born in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, the son of the 3rd Earl of Clare and his wife Grace Pierrepont. Grace was a d ...
.
He was educated at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
and
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...
, where he graduated
MA in 1757.
Marriage and children
On 8 November 1766, Portland married
Lady Dorothy Cavendish, a daughter of
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire and
Charlotte Boyle. They were parents of six children:
*
William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland (24 June 176827 March 1854).
*
Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 177417 June 1839).
*Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck (2 October 177528 July 1862). Married
Charles Greville, and they had three sons:
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (2 April 1794 – 17 January 1865) was an English diarist and an amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1827. His father Charles Greville was a second cousin of the 1st Earl of Warwick, and ...
,
Algernon Greville, and
Henry William Greville (1801–1872), and a daughter, Harriet (1803–1870) m.
Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere.
*Lady Mary Cavendish-Bentinck (13 March 17796 November 1843).
*
Lord Charles Bentinck (20 May 178028 April 1826). Ancestor of the 6th and 7th dukes of Portland.
*
Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck
Major-General Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (2 November 1781 – 10 February 1828) known as Lord Frederick Bentinck was a British soldier and politician.
The youngest child and fourth son of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland ...
(2 November 178111 February 1828) married Lady Mary Lowther (died 1863), daughter of
William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, 16 September 1820; had issue:
George Cavendish-Bentinck, ancestor of the 8th and 9th dukes of Portland.
*A stillborn baby, birthed at Burlington House on 20 October 1786.
Political and public offices
Portland was elected to sit in the
Parliament of Great Britain for
Weobley
Weobley ( ) is an ancient settlement and civil parish in Herefordshire, England.
Formerly a market town, the market is long defunct and the settlement is today promoted as one of the county's black and white villages owing to its abundance o ...
in 1761 before he entered the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
after he succeeded his father as
Duke of Portland the next year. He was associated with the aristocratic Whig Party of
Lord Rockingham
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782; styled The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1733, Viscount Higham between 1733 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750 and The Marquess of Rocking ...
and served as
Lord Chamberlain of the Household in Rockingham's first government (1765–1766).
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Portland served as
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Rockingham's
second ministry (April–August 1782). He faced strong demands for conciliatory measures following years of coercion and taxation brought about by the British government's engagement in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
.
Portland resolved to make concessions and, overcoming the resistance of
Lord Shelburne
William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, (2 May 17377 May 1805; known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history), was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first ...
, the Home Secretary to whom he reported, convinced Parliament to repeal the
Declaratory Act and to modify
Poynings' Law. Following Rockingham's death, Portland resigned from Lord Shelburne's ministry along with other supporters of
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled '' The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-ri ...
.
First government
In April 1783, Portland was selected as the titular head of a coalition government as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
, whose real leaders were Charles James Fox and
Lord North. He served as
First Lord of the Treasury in the ministry until its fall in December that same year. During his tenure, the
Treaty of Paris was signed, which formally ended the American Revolutionary War. The government was brought down after it had lost a vote in the House of Lords on its proposed reform of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
after
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
had let it be known that any peer voting for the measure would be considered his personal enemy.
In 1789, Portland became one of several vice presidents of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's
Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word " hospita ...
. The charity had become one of the most fashionable of the time, with several notables serving on its board. At its creation, 50 years earlier, Portland's father,
William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, had been one of the founding governors, as listed on the charity's
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...
granted by
George II. The hospital had a mission to care for the abandoned children in London, and it achieved rapid fame through its poignant mission, its art collection donated from supporting artists and the popular benefit concerts by
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
. In 1793, Portland took over the presidency of the charity from Lord North.
Home secretary
Along with many other conservative Whigs such as
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
, Portland was deeply uncomfortable with the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
; he broke with Fox over that issue and joined Pitt's government as
Secretary of State for the Home Department in 1794. In that role he oversaw the administration of patronage and financial inducements, which were often secret, to secure the passage of the
Act of Union 1800. He continued to serve in the cabinet until Pitt's death in 1806, from 1801 to 1805 as
Lord President of the Council and then as a
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...
.
Second government
In March 1807, after the collapse of the
Ministry of all the Talents, Pitt's supporters returned to power, and Portland was once again an acceptable figurehead for a fractious group of ministers that included
George Canning,
Lord Castlereagh,
Lord Hawkesbury and
Spencer Perceval.
Portland's second government saw the United Kingdom's complete isolation on the continent but also the beginning of its recovery with the start of the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...
. In late 1809, with Portland's health poor and the ministry rocked by the scandalous duel between Canning and Castlereagh, Portland resigned and died shortly thereafter.
He was
Recorder of Nottingham
The Recorder of Nottingham is the highest appointed legal officer of the Crown within the Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County areas of England.
Judge Gregory Dickinson KC was appointed Recorder of Nottingham in 2016.
List of Recorders o ...
until his death.
Death and burial
He died on 30 October 1809 at
Burlington House,
Piccadilly, after an operation for the
stone, and was buried at
St Marylebone Parish Church, London.
He had lived expensively: with an income of £17,000 a year (worth £577,000 in 2005),
National Archives currency converter. he had debts at his death computed at £52,000 (£1.76 million in 2005),
which were paid off by his succeeding son by selling off some property, including
Bulstrode Park
Bulstrode is an English country house and its large park, located to the southwest of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The estate spreads across Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross and Fulmer, and predates the Norman conquest. Its name may origin ...
.
Along with
Sir Robert Peel,
Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in ...
,
Benjamin Disraeli,
Marquess of Salisbury,
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 19 ...
,
Bonar Law and
Neville Chamberlain, he was the first of eight British prime ministers to die while his direct successor was in office.
Legacy
The
Portland Vase of Roman glass was given its name because it was owned by Portland at his family residence at Bulstrode Park.
Portland Parish, in Jamaica, was named after him. The Titchfield School, founded in 1786, is in the parish and is also named in his honour. The school's crest is derived from the his personal crest.
Two major streets in Marylebone are named after him:
Portland Place and
Great Portland Street
Great Portland Street in the West End of London links Oxford Street with Albany Street and the A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road. A commercial street including some embassies, it divides Fitzrovia, to the east, from Marylebone to the west. ...
. Both were built on land that he once owned.
North Bentinck Arm North Bentinck Arm is a short inlet about in length in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is an arm of Burke Channel and is linked via that waterway and Labouchere Channel to Dean Channel, which is one of the largest inlets ...
and
South Bentinck Arm South Bentinck Arm is a long side-inlet of Dean Channel in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. At the north end of the arm it meets the North Bentinck Arm and then the Dean Channel before flowing into the Burke Channel.
Rivers
...
were named for the
Bentinck family by
George Vancouver in 1793, along with other names on the British Columbia Coast, such as
Portland Canal and
Portland Channel.
Portland Bay
Portland Bay ( Dhauwurdwurrung: ''Kardermudelar / Pathowwererer'') is a small bay off the coast of Victoria, Australia. It is about west of Melbourne. The city of Portland is located on the bay. The western end of the bay is marked by the head ...
in Victoria, Australia was named in 1800 by the British navigator
James Grant James Grant may refer to:
Politics and law
* Sir James Grant, 1st Baronet (died 1695), Scottish lawyer
*Sir James Grant, 6th Baronet (1679–1747), Scottish Whig politician
*Sir James Grant, 8th Baronet (1738–1811), Scottish member of parliament
...
. The city of
Portland is located on the bay.
The department of
Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham holds a number of papers relating to him. His personal and political papers (Pw F) are part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection, and the Portland (London) Collection (Pl) contains his correspondence and official papers, especially in series Pl C.
The Portland Estate Papers held at Nottinghamshire Archives also contain items relating to the 3rd Duke's properties.
The Portland Collection
of fine and decorative art includes pieces owned and commissioned by him, including paintings by George Stubbs.
Arms
Cabinets as Prime Minister
First Ministry, April – December 1783
*The Duke of Portland—
First Lord of the Treasury
*
Lord Stormont—
Lord President of the Council
*
Lord Carlisle Lord Carlisle may refer to:
* Mark Carlisle, Baron Carlisle of Bucklow
* Earl of Carlisle, a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England
See also
* Alex Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew
Alexander Charles Carlile, Baron C ...
—
Lord Privy Seal
*
Lord North—
Secretary of State for the Home Department
*
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled '' The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-ri ...
—
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
*
The Viscount Keppel—
First Lord of the Admiralty
*
Lord John Cavendish
Lord John Cavendish (22 October 1732 – 18 December 1796) was a British nobleman and politician.
Background
Cavendish was the youngest son of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, and his wife Catherine, daughter of John Hoskins. Prime ...
—
Chancellor of the Exchequer
*
The Viscount Townshend—
Master-General of the Ordnance
*
Lord Northington
Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington, PC (c. 1708 – 14 January 1772), was the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a member of the Whig Party in the parliament and was known for his wit and writing.
Family
Born the second son of ...
—
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
*The
Great Seal is in Commission
Second Ministry, March 1807October 1809
*The Duke of Portland—
First Lord of the Treasury
*
Lord Eldon—
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
*
Lord Camden—
Lord President of the Council
*
Lord Westmorland—
Lord Privy Seal
*
Lord Hawkesbury, after 1808, Lord Liverpool –
Secretary of State for the Home Department
*
George Canning—
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
*
Lord Castlereagh—
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
*
Lord Mulgrave—
First Lord of the Admiralty
*
Spencer Perceval—
Chancellor of the Exchequer and of the
Duchy of Lancaster
The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...
*
Lord Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...
—
Master-General of the Ordnance
*
Lord Bathurst
Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain.
The medieval English word was Botehurst, thought to date at least from the 13th century. Bote is the origination of Battle, although the family ma ...
—
President of the Board of Trade
;Changes
*July 1809—
Lord Harrowby, the
President of the Board of Control, and
Lord Granville Leveson-Gower, the
Secretary at War, enter the Cabinet
Ancestry
References
External links
William Bentinck, Duke of Portlandprofile on the 10 Downing Street website
Biography of the 3rd Duke, with links to online catalogues, from Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portland, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of
1738 births
1809 deaths
19th-century prime ministers of the United Kingdom
People from Nottinghamshire
People educated at Westminster School, London
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
18th-century heads of government
19th-century heads of government
British MPs 1761–1768
British Secretaries of State
Chancellors of the University of Oxford
103 103 may refer to:
*103 (number), the number
*AD 103, a year in the 2nd century AD
* 103 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
* 103 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Field Squadron, a territorial regiment
* 103 (Newcastle) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers
*103 ...
William, 3rd Duke of Portland
Knights of the Garter
Lord-Lieutenants of Nottinghamshire
Lord Presidents of the Council
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
Fellows of the Royal Society
Portland, Victoria
Prime Ministers of Great Britain
British landowners
Lords Lieutenant of Ireland
Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies
Burials at St Marylebone Parish Church
Leaders of the House of Lords