Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon (28 November 1692 – 10 June 1760), of Wytham Abbey, Berkshire and Rycote, Oxfordshire, was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat briefly in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1715.

Early life

Bertie was the son of James Bertie of

Stanwell Stanwell is a village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne district, in Surrey, England. It is west of central London. A small corner of its land is used as industrial land for nearby Heathrow Airport. The rest of the village is made up o ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and Elizabeth Willoughby, and nephew of

Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon PC (4 February 1673 – 16 June 1743), styled Hon. Montagu Bertie until 1682 and Lord Norreys from 1682 to 1699, was an English nobleman. Career Montagu was the eldest son of James Bertie, 1st Ear ...

. He matriculated at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

on 27 November 1707.

Career

The Berties were Tories, with a strong electoral interest in Westbury, where the Earls of Abingdon were

lords of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

. At the 1715 general election in January, Bertie stood for one of the two seats; the mayor of Westbury as returning officer returned two Tories, Bertie and Francis Annesley, while the constable returned two Whigs,

George Evans George Evans may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer * George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist * George Evans (sin ...

and Charles Allanson. The Whigs had been sponsored by Lord Cowper to challenge the Bertie interest. The return for Bertie and Annesley was initially accepted on 28 March 1715 and they were declared elected, but on

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

, a number of their voters were disfranchised, and Evans (who had since been created Baron Carbery) and Allanson were declared elected on 1 June. Bertie did not stand for Parliament again, although at the 1722 election, his father James was returned with Annesley.

Later life and legacy

Bertie married Anna Maria Collins in August 1727 in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. In 1743, he succeeded his uncle as Earl of Abingdon. He remained a staunch Tory, as he declined to join the

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

association in defence of the

Hanoverian succession The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

during the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

. Bertie died on 10 June 1760. He and his wife had nine children: # Lady Elizabeth Peregrine Bertie (1728–1804), married Sir John Gallini # Lady Jane Bertie (c. 1730 – 25 February 1791), married Thomas Clifton of Westby, Clifton and Lytham # Lady Bridget Bertie (1732 – 9 December 1760), unmarried # James Bertie, Lord Norreys (25 September 1735 – 12 October 1745), killed in a fire at Rycote # Lady Anne Eleanora Bertie (c. 1737 – 19 April 1804), married Philip Wenman, 7th Viscount Wenman # Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon (1739/40–1799) # Hon. Peregrine Bertie (of Weston-on-the-Green) (1741–1790) # Lady Mary Bertie (12 November 1746 – 22 July 1826), married Miles Stapleton (d. 1809) # Lady Sophia Bertie (6 November 1748 – 1760), unmarried In 1764, the trustees of his estate sold some of his manors in Oxfordshire: Wendlebury to

Sir Edward Turner, 2nd Baronet Sir Edward Turner, 2nd Baronet (28 April 1719 – 31 October 1766) was an English Whig politician who sat in the Parliament of Great Britain from 1741 to 1766. Life Turner was the son of Sir Edward Turner, 1st Baronet and his wife Mary.Lobel ...

, and Chesterton to George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough. In

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, Marden was sold to George Willy and Patney to Robert Amor.

References

thepeerage.com

Accessed 30 August 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Abingdon, Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of 1692 births 1760 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Bertie, Willoughby 3 Bertie, Willoughby People from Stanwell Willoughby