Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland

Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland (17 March 1682 – 4 July 1726), styled Viscount Woodstock from 1689 until 1709, was a British politician and colonial statesman.

Bentinck was the second, but eldest surviving, son of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, and Anne née Villiers. His mother was from the prominent Villiers family, the eldest daughter of Sir Edward Villiers and sister of Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey.^[1]

As a youth, Bentinck did the Grand Tour around Europe, travelling through Italy and Germany with the company of Paul de Rapin.^[2][1] On 9 June 1704, he married Lady Elizabeth Noel, daughter of Wriothesley Baptist Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough and Catherine Greville at Chiswick. They had seven children:

• William Bentinck, Viscount Woodstock, later Marquess of Titchfield, later 2nd Duke of Portland (1709–1762)
• Lord George (1715–1759), soldier
• Lady Anne (d. 1749), married Col. Daniel Paul
• Lady Amelia Catharina (d. 1756), married Jacob van Wassenaer, Heer van Hazerswoude-Waddingsveen
• Lady Isabella (d. 1783), married Henry Monck, uncle of Charles Monck, 1st Viscount Monck

In 1705, Bentinck entered Parliament as MP for Southampton and held the seat until 1708, when he was returned for Hampshire. In 1709, he left the Commons for the Lords after inheriting his father's earldom, was appointed Colonel of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards a year later and elevated in the Peerage as Marquess of Titchfield and Duke of Portland in 1716. In 1719 he was one of main subscribers in the Royal Academy of Music (1719), a corporation that produced baroque opera on stage.

In 1721, Portland accepted the post of Governor of Jamaica, which was a not a very prestigious post, but accepted by him nonetheless after losing a huge amount of money in the South Sea Bubble the previous year. He died in office in 1726 at Spanish Town and his body was returned to England for burial; he was interred in Westminster Abbey in the vault of the Dukes of Ormond.^[2]

References

External links

• Biography of the 1st Duke, with links to online catalogues, from Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham