Lord Charles Bentinck

Lieutenant-Colonel The Right Honourable Lord Charles Bentinck
Treasurer of the Household
In office 29 July 1812 – 28 April 1826
Monarch	George III George IV
Prime Minister	The Earl of Liverpool
Preceded by	Viscount Jocelyn
Succeeded by	Sir William Henry Fremantle
Personal details
Born	3 October 1780
Died	28 April 1826 (aged 45)
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	(1) Georgiana Seymour (d. 1813) (2) Lady Anne Wellesley (c. 1795–1875)

Lieutenant-Colonel Lord William Charles Augustus Cavendish-Bentinck (3 October 1780 – 28 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 British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland and Lady Dorothy (1750–1794), daughter of Prime Minister William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire. William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland, and Lord William Bentinck were his elder brothers.^[1]

Political career

Bentinck was returned to Parliament for Ashburton in 1806, a seat he held until 1812.^[2] He served under the Earl of Liverpool as Treasurer of the Household between 1812^[3] and 1826.

Family

Bentinck married, firstly, Georgiana Augusta Frederica Seymour (baptized Elliott) (1782-10 December 1813), daughter of the courtesan Mrs Grace Elliott on 21 September 1808; she was said to be a daughter of the Prince of Wales or of the 4th Earl of Cholmondeley, both men claiming her paternity.^[4] They had one daughter, who was raised after Georgiana's death by Lord Cholmondeley, according to the entry on Grace Elliott. The marriage enabled Bentinck to become Treasurer of the Household in 1812, a position he held till death, despite his involvement in a notorious divorce suit and his subsequent remarriage.^[5]

In 1815 he eloped with his mistress, Lady Abdy, daughter of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, and Hyacinthe Gabrielle Roland, and wife of Bentinck's friend Sir William Abdy, 7th Baronet. Lady Anne was divorced by her husband, and she and Bentinck were married on 16 July 1816. They had four children:

• Anne Cavendish-Bentinck (d. 7 June 1888)
• Emily Cavendish-Bentinck (d. 6 June 1850), married Henry Hopwood.
• Reverend Charles William Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (1817–1865). He was a great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II.
• Lieutenant-General Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck (10 May 1819 – 11 December 1877). He married first Elizabeth Sophia Hawkins-Whitshed. They were parents of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland. He married secondly Augusta Browne and they had a daughter, Lady Ottoline Morrell.

Abdy-Cavendish divorce

Anne and Lord Charles became lovers at some point during her first marriage. They eloped on 5 September 1815, following which Abdy brought a suit for criminal conversation (crim.con. in Regency parlance) for 30,000 pounds but won only 7,000 pounds in damages. (These damages were never paid by the impecunious Bentinck). During the discussion of the divorce bill, the customary provision against remarriage was struck out in the House of Lords. Lady Abdy (or rather, her husband Sir William Abdy) was granted a divorce on 25 June 1816. Anne and Lord William were married on 23 July 1816, enabling their first child (which she was expecting) to be born legitimate three weeks later.^[6]

Bentinck died on 28 April 1826 at age 45. His wife survived him by almost 50 years and died in March 1875.^[1]

Ancestors

Ancestors of Lord Charles Bentinck

16. William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland               8. Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland                       17. Anne Villiers               4. William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland                             18. Wriothesley Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough               9. Lady Elizabeth Noel                       19. The Hon. Catherine Greville               2. William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Prime Minister of Great Britain                                   20. Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer               10. Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer                       21. Elizabeth Foley               5. Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley                             22. John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle               11. Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles                       23. Lady Margaret Cavendish               1. Lord Charles Cavendish-Bentinck                                         24. William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire               12. William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire                       25. The Hon. Rachel Russell               6. William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Prime Minister of Great Britain                             26. John Hoskins               13. Catherine Hoskins                       27. Catherine Hale               3. Lady Dorothy Cavendish                                   28. Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington               14. Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington                       29. Juliana Noel               7. Charlotte Boyle, 6th Baroness Clifford                             30. William Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax               15. Lady Dorothy Savile                       31. Lady Mary Finch

References

1. thepeerage.com Lt.-Col. Lord William Charles Augustus Cavendish-Bentinck
2. leighrayment.com House of Commons: Arundel to Ayrshire South
3. The London Gazette: no. 16632. p. 1579. 11 August 1812.
4. R.G. Thorne, "CAVENDISH BENTINCK, Lord William Charles Augustus (1780-1826) reference in his biographical entry pp. 421-2 to his wife's parentage, in his book The House of Commons, see p. 421. Referenced through Google Books, 17 November 2012
5. Thorne, see above
6. R.G. Thorne, p. 422.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Charles Bentinck