William Arthur Charles Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland, (28 December 1857 – 26 April 1943) was a British landowner, courtier, and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician. He notably served as

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse () in the Roman Rep ...

between 1886 and 1905.

Background and education

Portland was the son of Lt.-Gen. Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck (1819–1877) by his first wife Elizabeth Sophia Hawkins-Whitshed, granddaughter of Admiral Sir James Hawkins-Whitshed. His paternal grandfather was

Lord Charles Bentinck Lord William Charles Augustus Cavendish-Bentinck (20 May 178028 April 1826), known as Lord Charles Bentinck, was a British soldier and politician and a great-great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. Background Bentinck was the third son of Brit ...

, third son of Prime Minister

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (14 April 173830 October 1809) was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig and then a Tories (British political party), Tory politician during the late Georgian era. He s ...

by his wife Lady Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (8 May 1720 – 2 October 1764), styled Lord Cavendish before 1729, and Marquess of Hartington between 1729 and 1755, was a British Whig statesman and nobleman who was briefly nominal Prime Minister of ...

. Portland's mother died only a few days after his birth. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

. He inherited the Portland estates, based around

Welbeck Abbey Welbeck Abbey is an English country house near the village of Welbeck in the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire. It was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order, and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries a residen ...

in Nottinghamshire, from his cousin

William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland William John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland (17 September 1800 – 6 December 1879), styled Lord John Bentinck before 1824 and Marquess of Titchfield between 1824 and 1854, was a British Army officer and politician best known fo ...

, in 1879. He also succeeded his stepmother as second

Baron Bolsover Baron Bolsover, of Bolsover Castle in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 23 April 1880 (as Baroness Bolsover) for Augusta Cavendish-Bentinck, with remainder to the heirs male of the body of ...

in 1893. His half-sister

Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (née Cavendish-Bentinck; 16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English Aristocracy (class), aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befri ...

was a society hostess and patron of the arts associated with the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

. He owned 183,000 acres with 101,000 acres in Caithness with 43,000 acres in Nottinghamshire and 35,000 acres in Northumberland.

Public life

Portland initially embarked on a military career and served as a lieutenant in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

from 1877 to 1880, and then as lieutenant-colonel of the part-time

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

from 1881 to 1889. He was honorary colonel of the

1st Lanarkshire Artillery Volunteers The 1st Lanarkshire Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. Its units fought at Gallipoli and in Palestine during World War I, and in Normandy and North West Europe during World War II. It continued in ...

from 1884 to 1891, of the 4th (Royal Sherwood Foresters Militia) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, from 1889 and its

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...

successor from 1908, and of the

7th (Robin Hood) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season epi ...

(

Volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

, later

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

) from 1898. He sat on the Conservative benches in 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 ...

and held office as

under

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

from 1886 to 1892 and from 1895 to 1902 and under

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

from 1902 to 1905. In 1886, he was sworn of the Privy Council. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the

Royal Victorian Order 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 ...

(GCVO) in 1896, and was a holder of the

Royal Victorian Chain The Royal Victorian Chain is a State decoration, decoration instituted in 1902 by King Edward VII as a personal award of the monarch (i.e. not an award made on the advice of any Commonwealth realm government). It ranks above the Royal Victorian Or ...

. In 1900 he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Garter, receiving the insignia in an investiture by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

on 16 March 1900. He was appointed a Knight of Justice of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England (KStJ) in July 1901. He also held the Grand Cross of the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...

(Spain), 1st Class

Order of St Sava The Order of St. Sava () is an ecclesiastic decoration conferred by the Serbian Orthodox Church and a dynastic order presented by the house of Karađorđević. It was previously a Order (distinction), state order awarded by both the Kingdom of S ...

(

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

) the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Crown (Belgium) The Order of the Crown (, ) is a national Order (decoration), order of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897, by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold ...

, and the Grand Cross of the Order of St Stephen (Austria-Hungary). The Portlands visited

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

to attend the

1903 Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by Britain at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was hel ...

held in January 1903 to celebrated the succession of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

as Emperor of India. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness from 1889 to 1919,

Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire. Since 1694, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Nottinghamshire. * Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland 1552–1563? *Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of ...

from 1898 to 1939, a Deputy Lieutenant of

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

, and a trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. The Portlands received

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassination in Sarajevo was the ...

for a week in 1913 when the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne visited England. During the stay he took the Archduke shooting on the estate when, according to Portland's memoirs, ''Men, Women and Things'': From 1937 to 1943 he was

Chancellor of the Order of the Garter The Chancellor of the Order of the Garter is an officer of the Order of the Garter. History of the office When the Order of the Garter was founded in 1348 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle by Edward III of England, three officers were initial ...

. At the coronation of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

Portland carried the crown of

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

, whose mother (the Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne) was his cousin. It was at his estate in Langwell that the Sunderland Flying boat carrying the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edwa ...

(the King's youngest brother) crashed while en route to a RAF Base in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Benefaction and legacies

The Duke and Duchess of Portland were custodians and collectors of fine art. They were respectful and generous to the hundreds of staff they employed. One former servant, George Slingsby, who was employed as a footman at Welbeck Abbey before the First World War, wrote that "most of their staff had a job for life, were well cared for in the estate’s own hospital block when they were ill, and at such times nothing was deducted from their wages, at a time when the working classes had no privileges, or indeed any help from the Government." His probate was sworn in 1943 at , with his son as his heir.

Thoroughbred horse racing

Portland inherited the estate and

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud (animal), stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, ...

near

Clumber Park Clumber Park is a country park in The Dukeries near Worksop in the civil parish of Clumber and Hardwick, Nottinghamshire, England. The estate, which was the seat of the Earl of Lincoln, Pelham-Clintons, Dukes of Newcastle, was purchased by the Na ...

in North Nottinghamshire. Among the horses he owned was St. Simon, who won the 1884

Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...

. He also bred and owned

and

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

, who won the 1888 and 1889 runnings of The Derby. in 1890 Portland built "The Winnings", a row of 6

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable organization, charitable public housing, housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the povert ...

, with the proceeds of his horse racing successes.

Family

Portland married Winifred Anna Dallas-Yorke, daughter of Thomas Dallas-Yorke, DL, JP, of Walmsgate,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, on 11 June 1889. They had three children: * Lady Victoria Alexandrina Violet Cavendish-Bentinck (born 27 February 1890, died 8 May 1994), married Captain Michael Erskine-Wemyss and had issue. She was the last surviving godchild of Queen Victoria.Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1995) ''The Daily Telegraph Book of Obituaries''. Macmillan; p. 324 *

William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

(born 16 March 1893, died 21 March 1977) * Lord (Francis) Morven Dallas Cavendish-Bentinck (born 27 July 1900, died 22 August 1950), died unmarried. Portland died in April 1943, aged 85, and was interred at the traditional burial place of the Dukes of Portland in the churchyard of St Winifred's Church at

Holbeck Holbeck is an inner city area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It begins on the southern edge of Leeds city centre and mainly lies in the LS11 postcode district. The M1 and M621 motorways used to end/begin in Holbeck. Now the M621 is t ...

. He was succeeded by his eldest son, William. The Duchess of Portland died in July 1954, aged 90. The department of

Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

holds estate papers of the 6th Duke in the Portland (London) Collection (Pl).

Ancestry

Arms

Publications

Portland was author of the following memoirs: *''Fifty Years and More of Sport in Scotland'' (1933) *''Memories of Racing and Hunting'' (1935) *''Men, Women and Things'' (1937)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portland, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of 1857 births 1943 deaths People educated at Eton College William, 6th Duke of Portland

106 106 may refer to: * 106 (number), the number * AD 106, a year in the 2nd century AD * 106 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 106 (emergency telephone number), an Australian emergency number * 106 (MBTA bus), a route of the Massachusetts Bay Transpor ...

British racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Epsom Derby winners Lord-lieutenants of Caithness Lord-lieutenants of Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire Militia officers Sherwood Foresters officers Deputy lieutenants of Ayrshire Knights of the Garter Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Recipients of the Order of St. Sava People from Welbeck 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Perth and Kinross Place of birth missing Place of death missing Chancellors of the Order of the Garter 19th-century British landowners Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom