William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland

Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, Baron Bentinck of Diepenheim and Schoonheten, KG

Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

, PC

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

(20 July 1649, Diepenheim

Diepenheim

Diepenheim is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Hof van Twente, about 5 km southwest of Goor.Diepenheim was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part of Hof van Twente....

, Overijssel

Overijssel

Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...

– 23 November 1709) was a Dutch

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

and English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

, Prince of Orange

Prince of Orange

Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....

, Stadtholder

Stadtholder

A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...

in the Netherlands

Dutch Republic

, and future King of England. He was steady, sensible, modest and usually moderate. The friendship and cooperation stopped in 1699.

Early life and nurse to Prince William

Hans Willem was the son of Bernard, Baron Bentinck of Diepenheim

Diepenheim

and descended from an ancient and noble family of Guelders

Guelders

Guelders or Gueldres is the name of a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.-Geography:...

and Overijssel

Overijssel

. He was appointed first page of honour and chamberlain

Chamberlain (office)

A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....

. When, in 1675, Prince William was attacked by smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

, Bentinck nursed him assiduously, and this devotion secured for him the special and enduring friendship of William. From that point on, Bentinck had the Prince's confidence, and in their correspondence William was very open.

Communicator

In 1677 he was sent to England

England

to solicit for Prince William the hand of Mary

Mary II of England

Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...

, daughter of James, Duke of York

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

and future King of England. He was again in England on William's behalf in 1683 and in 1685. Later, in 1688, when William was preparing to assist in the overthrow of (now King) James including an invasion by Dutch troops

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

, Bentinck went to some of the German princes to secure their support, or at least their neutrality. He had also been, since 1687, a medium of communication between his master and his English friends. Bentinck superintended the arrangements for the invasion, including raising money, hiring an enormous transport fleet, organising a propaganda offensive, and preparing the possible landing sites, and also sailed to England with Prince William.

Titles and military service

The revolution accomplished, William (now King of England) made Bentinck Groom of the Stole

Groom of the Stole

Groom of the Stole in the British Royal Household is a position dating from the Stuart era but which evolved from the earlier Groom of the Stool, an office in existence until the accession of Elizabeth I. The original nomenclature derived from the chair used in the performance of the function...

, first gentleman of the bedchamber, and a Privy Counsellor

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

. In April 1689 he was created Baron Cirencester, Viscount Woodstock and, in its second creation, Earl of Portland

Earl of Portland

Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, first in 1633 and again in 1689.-First creation :The title of Earl of Portland was first created for the politician Richard Weston, 1st Baron Weston, in 1633...

. (The first creation of the earldom had been made for Richard Weston

Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland

Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, KG , was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Lord Treasurer of England under James I and Charles I, being one of the most influential figures in the early years of Charles I's Personal Rule and the architect of many of the policies that enabled him to rule...

in 1633, but it became extinct in 1688.) He commanded some cavalry at the Battle of the Boyne

Battle of the Boyne

The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...

in 1690, and was present at the Battle of Landen

Battle of Landen

The Battle of Landen , in the current Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, was a battle in the Nine Years' War, fought in present-day Belgium on 29 July 1693 between the French army of Marshal Luxembourg and the Allied army of King William III of England...

, where he was wounded, and at the 1695 Siege of Namur.

Diplomat

Bentinck's main work was of a diplomatic nature. In 1690 he was sent to The Hague to help solve the problem between William and the burgomaster

Burgomaster

Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...

s of Amsterdam. Having thwarted the Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

plot to murder the King in 1696, he helped to arrange the peace of Ryswick

Treaty of Ryswick

The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...

in 1697. In 1698 he was ambassador to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

for six months. While there, he opened negotiations with Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

for a partition of the Spanish monarchy, and as William's representative, signed the two partition treaties.

Resignation and land gifts

William Bentinck had, however, become very jealous of the rising influence of another Dutchman, Arnold van Keppel

Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle

Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle KG, and lord of De Voorst in Guelders , was the son of Oswald van Keppel and his wife Anna Geertruid van Lintelo...

, and, in 1699, he resigned all his offices in the royal household. He did not forfeit the esteem of the King, who continued to trust and employ him. Portland had been loaded with gifts, and this, together with the jealousy felt for him as a foreigner, made him very unpopular in England. He received 135,000 acres (546 km²) of land in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, and only the strong opposition of a united House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

prevented him obtaining a large gift of crown lands in North Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. For his share in drawing up the partition treaties he was impeached in 1701, but the case against him did not proceed. He was occasionally employed on public business under Queen Anne

Anne of Great Britain

Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...

until his death at his residence, Bulstrode Park

Bulstrode Park

Bulstrode Park is a large park to the northwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Gerrard's Cross in the English Home Counties. It dates back to before the Norman conquest.- First house:The previous house was built in 1686 for the infamous Judge Jeffreys...

in Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

. Portland's eldest son Henry

Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland

Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland , styled Viscount Woodstock from 1689 until 1709, was a British politician and colonial statesman....

succeeded him as earl, and was granted the titles of Marquess of Titchfield and Duke of Portland in 1716.

Codex Bentingiana

While living in Holland, Bentinck maintained a garden boasting many botanical rarities. Illustrations of these plants were collected under the name Codex Bentingiana. This work has since disappeared from the botanical scene.

Family

Lord Portland was married twice. His first wife was Anne Villiers (before 1633 - 30 November 1688), daughter of Sir Edward Villiers and his wife Lady Frances Howard, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Suffolk

Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk

Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, KG was an English nobleman and politician.Born at the family estate of Saffron Walden, he was the son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, by his second wife Catherine Knyvet of Charlton, and succeeded his father in 1626.Sir Theophilus Howard was named in...

, whom he married on 1 February 1678. They had six children:

Lady Mary Bentinck
Lady Mary Bentinck
Lady Mary Bentinck, Countess of Essex was the daughter of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of stadtholder William, Prince of Orange and his wife Anne Villiers Lady Mary Bentinck, Countess of Essex (1679 – 20 August...

(c. 1679-20 August 1726), who married, firstly, the 2nd Earl of Essex
Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex
Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex PC was an English nobleman, a soldier and courtier. He was the son of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex and Elizabeth Percy. After his father's suicide in 1683, Capell became the 2nd Earl of Essex...

on 28 February 1698 and had one son. She married, secondly, Sir Conyers D'Arcy (died 1 December 1758), circa August 1714 and had no issue.
Willem Bentinck, (c. 3 March 1681 - 26 May 1688)
Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland
Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland
Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland , styled Viscount Woodstock from 1689 until 1709, was a British politician and colonial statesman....
Lady Anna Margaretha Bentinck (c. 1683 - 3 May 1763), who married Arent van Wassenaar, Baron van Wassenaar circa 1701 and had at least one daughter.
Lady Frances Wilhelmina Bentinck (18 February 1684 - 31 March 1712), who married the 4th Baron Byron
William Byron, 4th Baron Byron
William Byron, 4th Baron Byron was Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Prince George of Denmark.-Life:Byron was the son of William Byron, 3rd Baron Byron and the Hon. Elizabeth Chaworth...

(4 January 1670 - 8 August 1736) on 19 December 1706 and had four children.
Lady Isabella Bentinck (4 May 1688 - 23 February 1728), who married the 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull had been member of parliament for East Retford before his accession to the peerage in 1690. While serving as one of the commissioners for the union with Scotland he was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1706, and took a leading part in...

on 2 August 1714 but had no issue.

His second wife was Jane Martha Temple (1672 - 26 May 1751), the widow of the 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton

John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton

John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton was an English admiral.- Biography :He was the second son of John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, and succeeded to the title on March 6, 1681, by the death of his elder brother Charles, a captain in the navy.On December 14, 1688 he was...

, whom he married on 12 May 1700. They had the following children:

Lady Sophia Bentinck (died 5 June 1741), who married the 1st Duke of Kent
Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent
Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent KG PC was a British politician and courtier.-Family:He was a son of Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent and Mary Grey, 1st Baroness Lucas of Crudwell...

on 24 March 1729 and had issue.
Lady Elizabeth Adriana Bentinck (died 1765), who married Rev. The Hon. Henry Egerton (died 1 April 1746) on 18 December 1720 and had issue.
Lady Barbara Bentinck (died 1 April 1736), who married the 2nd Baron Godolphin
Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin
Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin was a British peer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament for the borough of Helston in Cornwall from 1741 to 1766, when he succeeded to the peerage on the death of his cousin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin....

(1707 - 25 May 1785) on 18 February 1734; no issue.
The Hon. William Bentinck, 1st Graf Bentinck (6 November 1704 - 13 October 1774), who married Charlotte Sophie Gräfin von Aldenburg (4 August 1715 - 5 February 1800) on 1 June 1733 and had two sons. In 1990, after the failure of the male line from his half-brother the 1st Duke of Portland
Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland
Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland , styled Viscount Woodstock from 1689 until 1709, was a British politician and colonial statesman....

, his descendant Henry, Graf Bentinck
Henry Bentinck, 11th Earl of Portland
Henry Noel Bentinck, 11th Earl of Portland, 7th Count Bentinck und Waldeck Limpurg was a non-conformist intellectual, concerned about the environment....

became Earl of Portland
Earl of Portland
Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, first in 1633 and again in 1689.-First creation :The title of Earl of Portland was first created for the politician Richard Weston, 1st Baron Weston, in 1633...

.
The Hon. Charles John Bentinck, Graf Bentinck (2 June 1708 - 18 March 1779), who married Lady Margaret Cadogan on 11 January 1738.
Lady Harriet Bentinck (bef. 1709 - 10 June 1792), who married James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassill (bef. 1697 - 17 March 1758) on 15 October 1728 and had two children.

Styles from birth to death

Mr. William Bentinck (1649-1689)
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Portland, PC (1689-1697)
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Portland, KG, PC (1697-1709)

External links

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