William Henry Berkeley Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman,

GCVO The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(12 July 1829 – 16 October 1919) was a British Liberal Member of Parliament.

Background

Portman was the son of Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman and Lady Emma Lascelles, daughter of Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood.

Political career

Portman was elected to Parliament for

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

in 1852, a seat he held until 1857, and then represented

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

from 1857 to 1885. In 1888 he succeeded his father and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Estates

At the end of the nineteenth century the 99-year leases on the family properties in London came up for renewal, generating a colossal income for Lord Portman of some £100,000 a year. With this fortune he commissioned

Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

to build a new mansion for him at the

family seat A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...

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 in ...

. Within 30 years, however, it had been sold to

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the ...

, which is still based there. This was because it rapidly became anachronistic and uneconomic even for an aristocratic family to occupy a house on such a scale, and the family was also crippled by

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

when the second Viscount's heir and his heir's heir died within ten years of him.

Family

Son of Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman (9 July 1799 – 19 November 1888) and Lady Emma Lascelles (16 March 1809 – 8 February 1865) William Henry Berkeley Portman married Mary Selina Charlotte FitzWilliam (9 Jan 1836 – 3 January 1899), daughter of William Charles FitzWilliam (18 Jan 1812 – 8 November 1835), son of the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam,(1786–1857) and Lady Selina Charlotte Jenkinson, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Liverpool, on 21 June 1855. They had six sons and two daughters: * Hon. Edward William Berkeley Portman (30 July 1856 – 27 April 1911). He married as her second husband, Hon. Constance Mary Lawley, daughter of

Beilby Lawley, 2nd Baron Wenlock Beilby Richard Lawley, 2nd Baron Wenlock (2 April 1818 – 6 November 1880) was an English nobleman, eldest son of Paul Thompson, 1st Baron Wenlock and 8th Baronet. He succeeded as 2nd Baron and 9th Baronet and to the family estate at Escrick, ...

. They had no issue. * Hon. Walter George Berkeley Portman (2 June 1858 – 14 December 1865). * The Rt. Hon.

Henry Berkeley Portman, 3rd Viscount Portman Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainment ...

(16 February 1860 – 18 January 1923). * Hon. Emma Selina Portman (5 April 1863 – 1 March 1941). She married Ronald Ruthven Leslie-Melville, 11th Earl of Leven. They had four sons, and one daughter. * The Rt. Hon.

Claud Berkeley Portman, 4th Viscount Portman Claud is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Claud Allister (1888–1970), English actor *Claud Beelman (1883–1963), American architect * Claud Irvine Boswell (1742–1824), Scottish judge *Claud Thomas Bourchier (1831–1877), ...

(1 November 1864 – 6 June 1929). * Hon. Susan Alice Portman (30 March 1866 – 21 August 1933). She married Alan William Heber-Percy, grandson of Bishop Hugh Percy through his son Algernon. They had four sons, and three daughters. * The Rt. Hon. Seymour Berkeley Portman, 6th Viscount Portman (19 February 1868 – 2 November 1946). * The Rt. Hon. Gerald Berkeley Portman, 7th Viscount Portman (23 January 1875 – 3 September 1948). He married Dorothy Marie Isolde Sheffield, daughter of

Sir Robert Sheffield, 5th Baronet Sir Robert Sheffield, 5th Baronet (1823–1886) was a Royal Horse Guards officer, landowner, and High Sheriff of Lincolnshire. Educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, in 1842 he purchased a commission as a cornet in the Royal Horse Gua ...

. They had two sons, and one daughter, Penolope, who married Brigadier Archer Francis Lawrence Clive, the son of Lt.-Gen. Sir Sidney Clive. They had one son, and daughter. Two of his sons predeceased him and all four of the others succeeded to his title in the course of time (see the titles in the names above). Lord Portman's first wife died in 1899. In 1908 he married, secondly, shortly before his 79th birthday, Frances Maxwell Buchanan Cuninghame, by whom there were no further children. Lord Portman died in October 1919, aged 90, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest surviving son, Henry Berkeley Portman.

References

External links

*
''Feature in Dorset Life''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portman, Henry Portman, 2nd Viscount 1829 births 1919 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs who inherited peerages

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

British landowners 19th-century British businesspeople Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dorset