Bentinck family

Last updated

Bentinck
Bentinck-Wappen.png
Country Netherlands
United Kingdom
Founded14th century
FounderJohan Bentinck
TitlesNetherlands: Baron Bentinck, Count Bentinck†; HRE: Count Bentinck (Imperial Count); England: Baron Cirencester, Viscount Woodstock, Earl of Portland; Great Britain: Marquess of Titchfield†, Duke of Portland†.

The Bentinck family is a prominent family belonging to Dutch, German and British nobility. Its members have served in the armed forces and as ambassadors and politicians, including as Governor General of India and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The family is related to the British royal family through the maternal Cavendish-Bentinck line of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Contents

History

The name Bentinck is a patronymic variation of the Old Germanic name Bento. The family is originally from the east of the Netherlands and is regarded as Uradel nobility, or noble from earliest times. The oldest known ancestor is Johan Bentinck, who owned land near Heerde and is mentioned in documents between 1343 and 1386.

An important British branch was founded by Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, who accompanied William Henry, Prince of Orange to England during the Glorious Revolution. The head of this line was initially given the title of Earl of Portland (later Duke of Portland).

In 1732, the title of Count Bentinck ( Graf Bentinck), of the Holy Roman Empire, was created for Willem Bentinck, the second surviving son of the 1st Earl of Portland. A Royal Licence of 1886 was created which allowed the use of this title in Britain. The Royal Warrant of 27 April 1932 abolished the use of foreign titles in the United Kingdom but extended the special allowance in 13 cases, including the Bentinck comital title "during the lives of the present holders, their heirs, and their heir's heir, provided such heir's heir is now in existence." That exception has now expired. [1] Another branch with the title of count existed in the Netherlands, but it died out in the male line.

The Dutch and British branches of the family continue to exist and belong to the Dutch nobility, German nobility and British nobility.

The Lordship of In- and Kniphausen

The counts of Bentinck were sovereign rulers of the Lordship of In- and Kniphausen, a territory of two parts in and around what is now the city of Wilhelmshaven. Originally subject to Brussels, the general reorganisation of the Holy Empire in 1803 ( Reichsdeputationshauptschluss ) granted Imperial immediacy until the dissolution of the Holy Empire in 1806. The Lordship maintained a precarious independence until 1810, when France annexed it and the whole German North Sea coast to enforce the Continental System. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Lordship was denied admittance to the German Confederation in deference to Tsar Alexander I, who wished to see the territory annexed by his cousin, the Grand Duke of Oldenburg. Count Bentinck fought for his little state, however, and at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818, the Great Powers agreed that the Count's territory should be granted limited sovereignty.

The Frankfurt Convention of 10 July 1819 recognised In- and Kniphausen as sovereign within its own borders but under the protection of Oldenburg. [2] The Treaty of Berlin on 8 June 1825 finalized the terms. In- and Kniphausen was permitted its own commercial flag, which its vessels bore on the high seas. [3] Nevertheless, there was a long dispute between the Oldenburg and the Bentinck families in the latter's inheritance. This dispute was not ended until 1854 with a settlement in which the Bentinck family renounced its sovereignty for financial compensation and certain property rights. The Counts of Bentinck no longer claimed sovereignty over In- and Kniphausen.

Even before the final settlement, Oldenburg and Prussia had negotiated the Treaty of Jade of 1853 in which Oldenburg agreed to sell 340 hectares of Kniphausen territory to Prussia as a naval station for its North Sea Fleet. The cession became the city of Wilhelmshaven.

Today

The Dutch estate of the Bentinck family since the 16th century, Schoonheten House  [ nl ], is situated between the villages Heeten and Raalte in Overijssel. The area contains 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi) of forests and cultivated land. Today the family mainly earns its living by forestry, agriculture and renting holiday houses. The British branch of the family owns Bothal Castle (Bothal Estates) in Northumberland and Welbeck Abbey (Welbeck Estates), the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Portland in Nottinghamshire. Gary Ramsay Bentinck, Baron Bentinck (1964), is head of both the British baronial branch and the Dutch family. [4] At the moment, there are not so many of the Dutch Bentincks bearing this surname and belonging to the branch of the original family, such as Maxim (baptismal name Maxim Wilhelm Christian Fredrik) Bentinck and Anna Bentinck, direct descendants who are aristocrats.

Notable members

Family tree

Legacy

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland</span> British politician and prime minister (1738–1809)

William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, was a British Whig and then a Tory politician during the late Georgian era. He served as chancellor of the University of Oxford (1792–1809) and as Prime Minister of Great Britain (1783) and then of the United Kingdom (1807–1809). The gap of 26 years between his two terms as prime minister is the longest of any British prime minister. He was also the fourth great-grandfather of King Charles III through his great-granddaughter Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Portland</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, firstly in 1633 and secondly in 1689. What proved to be a long co-held title, Duke of Portland, was created in 1716 and became extinct in 1990 upon the death of the ninth Duke, at which point the earldom passed to the most senior agnatic cousin, namely one of the 6th degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland</span> British politician

William Henry Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland,, styled Marquess of Titchfield until 1809, was a British politician who served in various positions in the governments of George Canning and Lord Goderich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland</span> British peer and Conservative Party politician

William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland,, styled Marquess of Titchfield until 1943, was a British peer and Conservative politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland</span> British nobleman

William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, styled Viscount Woodstock from 1709 to 1716 and Marquess of Titchfield from 1716 to 1726, was a British peer and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland</span> Dutch and English nobleman

William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, was a Dutch-born English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. He was reportedly steady, sensible, modest and usually moderate. The friendship and cooperation stopped in 1699.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland</span> British landowner and politician

William John Arthur Charles James Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland,, known as William Cavendish-Bentinck until 1879, was a British landowner, courtier, and Conservative politician. He notably served as Master of the Horse between 1886 and 1892 and again between 1895 and 1905.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuyll</span> Dutch noble family

Tuyll is the name of a noble Dutch family, with familial and historical links to England, whose full name is Van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Several knights, members of various courts, literary figures, generals, ambassadors, statesmen and explorers carried the family name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle</span> British peer

John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, KG, PC was a prominent English peer and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland</span> British diplomat

Victor Frederick William Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland,, known as Victor Cavendish-Bentinck until 1977 and Lord Victor Cavendish-Bentinck from 1977 to 1980, and informally as Bill Bentinck, was a British diplomat, businessman, and peer. He served as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee during the Second World War and was British Ambassador to Poland between 1945 and 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland</span> British duchess

Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland was the richest woman in Great Britain of her time, styled Lady Margaret Harley before 1734, Duchess of Portland from 1734 to her husband's death in 1761, and Dowager Duchess of Portland from 1761 until her own death in 1785.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welbeck Abbey</span> House and former monastery in Nottinghamshire, England

Welbeck Abbey is an English mansion situated in the village of Welbeck, which is within the civil parish of Norton, Cuckney, Holbeck and Welbeck, in the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire. It was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order in England and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a country house residence of the Dukes of Portland. It is part of the Dukeries, four contiguous ducal estates in North Nottinghamshire. The house is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavendish-Bentinck</span> Family name

Cavendish-Bentinck is a surname associated with the Dukes of Portland and their descendants. Bentinck is a Dutch surname brought to England by William Bentinck, an advisor to William III of England. Cavendish was added to the family name by Bentinck's great-grandson the 3rd Duke of Portland, who married in 1766 Lady Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of the 4th Duke of Devonshire. By a family arrangement, she was the heiress to estates which had previously belonged to the defunct Newcastle branch of the Cavendish family, including Welbeck Abbey, which became the principal seat of the Dukes of Portland. Following the death of the 9th Duke in 1990, the family name became extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavendish family</span> British noble family

The Cavendishfamily is a British noble family, of Anglo-Norman origins. They rose to their highest prominence as Duke of Devonshire and Duke of Newcastle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer</span> English Tory politician and peer

Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer was an English Tory politician and peer who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1711 to 1724.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck</span> British noblewoman and landowner

Lady Alexandra Margaret Anne Cavendish-Bentinck was a member of the British nobility and one of the richest landowners in the country. She was a notable charity worker, art collector, and horsewoman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Sophie of Aldenburg</span>

Charlotte Sophie of Aldenburg, was the ruling Countess of Varel and Kniphausen, adjacent lordships on the German/Frisian border along the North Sea, from 1738 to 1748. She was the daughter of Anton II, Count of Aldenburg and Princess Wilhelmine Marie of Hesse-Homburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem Bentinck van Rhoon</span> Dutch politician (1704–1774)

Willem Bentinck, Lord of Rhoon and Pendrecht was a Dutch nobleman and politician, and the eldest son from the second marriage of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland. He was created Count Bentinck of the Holy Roman Empire in 1732. Bentinck played a leading role in the Orangist revolution of 1747 in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indio, Bovey Tracey</span> Human settlement in England

Indio in the parish of Bovey Tracey in Devon, is an historic estate. The present large mansion house, known as Indio House is a grade II listed building rebuilt in 1850, situated about 1/2 mile south of Bovey Tracey Church, on the opposite side of the River Bovey. According to the Devon historian Pole (d.1635) it was originally a priory, however research from 1840 onwards has suggested it was more likely merely a grange farm, a possession of St John’s Hospital, Bridgwater, Somerset, from 1216.

Henrietta Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, formerly Henrietta Scott, was the wife of William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland.

References

  1. "HO 45/25906".
  2. Twiss, Travers: The Law of Nations Considered as Independent Political Communities, Oxford University Press, 1861, pages 30-32.
  3. Hertslet, Edward: The Map of Europe by Treaty, 1875, pages 723-726.
  4. Gary Ramsay Bentinck, Baron Bentinck, thepeerage. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  5. The Dukedom of Portland became extinct upon the 9th Duke's death and the Earldom of Portland reverted to the male line of the 1st Earl of Portland with Henry Noel acceding as 11th Earl of Portland.
  6. "Bentinck Island". BC Geographical Names .
  7. Walbran, Captain John T. (1971), British Columbia Place Names, Their Origin and History (Facsimile reprint of 1909 ed.), Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, ISBN   0-88894-143-9, archived from the original on 3 March 2016, retrieved 13 July 2008
  8. Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Kelly's Directories. 1884. p. 784. Retrieved 21 July 2017.