Ancestral Trails 2016 » William Henry Cavendish CAVENDISH-BENTINCK (1738-1809)

Personal data William Henry Cavendish CAVENDISH-BENTINCK 


Household of William Henry Cavendish CAVENDISH-BENTINCK

He is married to Dorothy CAVENDISH.

They got married on November 8, 1766, he was 28 years old.


Child(ren):



Notes about William Henry Cavendish CAVENDISH-BENTINCK

William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, KG, PC, FRS (14 April 1738 - 30 October 1809) was a British Whig and Tory politician of the late Georgian era. He served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1783) and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1807-09). The 24 years between his two terms as Prime Minister is the longest gap between terms of office of any British prime minister. He was known before 1762 by the courtesy title Marquess of Titchfield. He held a title of every degree of British nobility: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. He is also a great-great-great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II through her maternal grandmother.

Lord Titchfield was the eldest son of William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland and Margaret Cavendish-Harley and inherited many lands from his mother and his maternal grandmother. He was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford.

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 1768 - 27 March 1854).
Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 1774 - 17 June 1839).
Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck (3 October 1775 - 28 July 1862). Married Charles Greville, and they had three sons: Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville, 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 1779 - 6 November 1843).
Lord Charles Bentinck (3 October 1780 - 28 April 1826). Paternal grandfather of Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne; ancestor of the 6th and latest dukes of Portland, and of Lady Ottoline Morrell.
Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (2 November 1781 - 11 February 1828) married Lady Mary Lowther (d. 1863), daughter of William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, 16 September 1820; had issue: George Cavendish-Bentinck.
A stillborn baby, birthed at Burlington House on 20 October 1786.

Political and public offices
Portland was elected to sit in the Parliament for Weobley in 1761 before entering the Lords when he succeeded his father as Duke of Portland the next year. He was associated with the aristocratic Whig party of Lord Rockingham 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 War of Independence. Portland resolved to make concessions and, overcoming the resistance of Lord Shelburne, the Home Secretary to whom he reported, convinced Parliament to repeal the Declaratory Act and modify Poynings' Law. Following Rockingham's death, Portland resigned from Lord Shelburne's ministry along with other supporters of Charles James Fox.

First premiership
In April 1783, Portland was brought forward as titular head of a coalition government as Prime Minister, whose real leaders were Charles James Fox and Lord North. He served as First Lord of the Treasury in this ministry until its fall in December of the same year. During his tenure the Treaty of Paris was signed formally ending the American Revolutionary War. The government was brought down after losing a vote in the House of Lords on its proposed reform of the East India Company after George III had let it be known that any peer voting for this measure would be considered his personal enemy.

In 1789, Portland became one of several vice presidents of London's Foundling Hospital. This charity had become one of the most fashionable of the time, with several notables serving on its board. At its creation, fifty years earlier, Portland's father, William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, had been one of the founding governors, listed on the charity's royal charter granted by George II. The hospital's mission was 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 popular benefit concerts put on by George Frideric Handel. In 1793, Portland took over the presidency of the charity from Lord North.

Home secretary
Along with many conservative Whigs such as Edmund Burke, Portland was deeply uncomfortable with the French Revolution and broke with Fox over this issue, joining Pitt's government as Home Secretary in 1794. In this role he oversaw the administration of patronage and financial inducements, often secret, to secure the passage of the 1800 Act of Union. 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.

Second premiership
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 recovery, with the start of the Peninsular War. In late 1809, with Portland's health poor and the ministry rocked by the scandalous duel between Canning and Castlereagh, Portland resigned, dying shortly thereafter.

He was Recorder of Nottingham until his death in 1809.

Death and burial
The 3rd Duke of Portland died at Bulstrode Park, Buckinghamshire, after an operation to remove a kidney stone on 30 October 1809 and was buried in St Marylebone Parish Church, Marylebone, London.

He had lived expensively: with an income of £17,000 a year (worth £577,000 in 2005), he had debts at his death computed at £52,000 (£1.76 million in 2005), which were paid off by his succeeding son selling off some property including Bulstrode.

Along with Sir Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, Marquess of Salisbury, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Bonar Law, and Neville Chamberlain, he is one of seven British Prime Ministers to die while his direct successor was in office, and the first to do so.
SOURCE: Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cavendish-Bentinck,_3rd_Duke_of_Portland

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Timeline William Henry Cavendish CAVENDISH-BENTINCK

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Ancestors (and descendant) of William Henry Cavendish CAVENDISH-BENTINCK


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Historical events

Birthday April 14, 1738

  • The temperature on April 14, 1738 was about 7.0 °C. Wind direction mainly northwest by west. Weather type: betrokken. Source: KNMI
  •  This page is only available in Dutch.
    Van 1702 tot 1747 kende Nederland (ookwel Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden) zijn Tweede Stadhouderloze Tijdperk.
  • In the year 1738: Source: Wikipedia
    • January 7 » A peace treaty is signed between Peshwa Bajirao and Jai Singh II following Maratha victory in the Battle of Bhopal.
    • April 15 » Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel receives its premiere performance in London, England.
    • April 18 » Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal Academy of History") is founded in Madrid.
    • May 24 » John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
    • May 25 » A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
    • July 15 » Baruch Laibov and Alexander Voznitzin are burned alive in St. Petersburg, Russia. Vonitzin had converted to Judaism with Laibov's help, with the consent of Empress Anna Ivanovna.

Day of marriage November 8, 1766

  • The temperature on November 8, 1766 was about 3.0 °C. Wind direction mainly south east. Weather type: regen omtrent helder. Source: KNMI
  • Erfstadhouder Prins Willem V (Willem Batavus) (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1751 till 1795 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden)
  • In the year 1766: Source: Wikipedia
    • March 18 » American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
    • May 22 » A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
    • November 10 » The last colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signs the charter of Queen's College (later renamed Rutgers University).
    • December 2 » Swedish parliament approved the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act and implemented it as a ground law, thus being first in the world with freedom of speech.
    • December 5 » In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.
    • December 25 » Mapuches in Chile launch a series of surprise attacks against the Spanish starting the Mapuche uprising of 1766.

Day of death October 30, 1809

  • The temperature on October 30, 1809 was about 7.0 °C. Wind direction mainly east. Weather type: helder. Source: KNMI
  •  This page is only available in Dutch.
    De Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden werd in 1794-1795 door de Fransen veroverd onder leiding van bevelhebber Charles Pichegru (geholpen door de Nederlander Herman Willem Daendels); de verovering werd vergemakkelijkt door het dichtvriezen van de Waterlinie; Willem V moest op 18 januari 1795 uitwijken naar Engeland (en van daaruit in 1801 naar Duitsland); de patriotten namen de macht over van de aristocratische regenten en proclameerden de Bataafsche Republiek; op 16 mei 1795 werd het Haags Verdrag gesloten, waarmee ons land een vazalstaat werd van Frankrijk; in 3.1796 kwam er een Nationale Vergadering; in 1798 pleegde Daendels een staatsgreep, die de unitarissen aan de macht bracht; er kwam een nieuwe grondwet, die een Vertegenwoordigend Lichaam (met een Eerste en Tweede Kamer) instelde en als regering een Directoire; in 1799 sloeg Daendels bij Castricum een Brits-Russische invasie af; in 1801 kwam er een nieuwe grondwet; bij de Vrede van Amiens (1802) kreeg ons land van Engeland zijn koloniën terug (behalve Ceylon); na de grondwetswijziging van 1805 kwam er een raadpensionaris als eenhoofdig gezag, namelijk Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (van 31 oktober 1761 tot 25 maart 1825).
  • In the year 1809: Source: Wikipedia
    • March 13 » Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809.
    • April 11 » An incomplete British victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Basque Roads results in the court-martial of James, Lord Gambier.
    • April 20 » Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory.
    • May 21 » The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling between the Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held.
    • September 17 » Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War; the territory that will become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
    • October 15 » The Viceroy the Río de la Plata, Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, opens the port of Buenos Aires to trade with nations other than Spain.


Same birth/death day

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia


About the surname CAVENDISH-BENTINCK


The Ancestral Trails 2016 publication was prepared by .contact the author
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin:
Patti Lee Salter, "Ancestral Trails 2016", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/ancestral-trails-2016/I91812.php : accessed August 8, 2025), "William Henry Cavendish CAVENDISH-BENTINCK (1738-1809)".