Bentinck family

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

For other uses, see Bentinck (disambiguation).

Bentinck
noble house
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†.

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 noble, or noble from earliest times. The oldest known ancestor is Johan Bentinck, who is mentioned in documents between 1343 and 1386 and owned land near Heerde.

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 Graf (Count) Bentinck, of the Holy Roman Empire, was created for William Bentinck, son of the 1st Earl of Portland. A Royal Licence of 1886 was created which allowed the use of this title in England. 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 countly 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 Count existed in the Netherlands, but died out in the male line.

The Dutch and British branches of the family continue to exist and belong to both the Dutch 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 situated in and around what is today the city of Wilhelmshaven. Originally subject to Brussels, the general reorganization of the Holy Empire in 1803 (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) granted Imperial immediacy until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806. It maintained a precarious independence until 1810, when France annexed it and the whole German North Sea coast in order 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-Chappelle in 1818, the Great Powers agreed that the Count's territory should be granted limited sovereignty. The Frankfurt Convention of July 10, 1819, recognized In- and Kniphausen as sovereign within its own borders, but under the protection of Oldenburg.[2] The Treaty of Berlin on June 8, 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 Bentincks concerning the latter's inheritance. This dispute was not ended until 1854 with a settlement in which the Bentinck family renounced their sovereignty for financial compensation and certain property rights. After that date, the Counts of Bentinck claimed no further sovereignty over In- and Kniphausen. Even before this 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. This cession became the city of Wilhelmshaven.

Today

The Dutch estate of the Bentinck family since the 16th century, Schoonheten House, is situated between the villages Heeten and Raalte in Overijssel. The area contains 5 square kilometres of forests and cultivated land. Nowadays, 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.

Notable members

Family Tree
Bentinck Family Tree: Earls of Portland, Dukes of Portland and Counts Bentinck
EARL OF PORTLAND, 1689
Hans William Bentinck,
1st Earl of Portland
(1649–1709)
DUKE OF PORTLAND, 1715COUNT BENTINCK, 1732
Willem Bentinck
(1681–1689)		Henry Bentinck,
1st Duke of Portland
2nd Earl of Portland
(1682–1726)		William Bentinck,
1st Count Bentinck
(1704–1774)
William Bentinck,
2nd Duke of Portland
3rd Earl of Portland
(1709–1762)		Christian Frederick Anthony Bentinck
(1734–1768)
William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck,
3rd Duke of Portland
4th Earl of Portland
(1738–1809)
P.M. 1783, 1807–09		William Gustavus Frederic Bentinck,
2nd Count Bentinck
(1762–1835)		John Charles Bentinck,
3rd Count Bentinck
(1763–1833)
William Henry
Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck,
4th Duke of Portland
5th Earl of Portland
(1768–1854)		Lord
William Charles Augustus
Cavendish-Bentinck
(1780–1826)		Lord Frederick
Cavendish-Bentinck
(1781–1828)		Charles Anthony Ferdinand Bentinck,
4th Count Bentinck
(1792–1864)
William Henry
Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck,
Marquess of Titchfield
(1796–1824)		William John
Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck,
5th Duke of Portland
6th Earl of Portland
(1800–1879)		Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck
(1819–1877)		George Augustus Frederick
Cavendish-Bentinck
(1821–1891)		Henry Charles Adolphus Frederick William Bentinck,
5th Count Bentinck
(1846–1903)		William Charles Philip Otto Bentinck,
6th Count Bentinck
(1848–1912)		Count Godard John George Charles Bentinck
(1857–1940)
William John Arthur Charles
James Cavendish-Bentinck,
6th Duke of Portland
7th Earl of Portland
(1857–1943)		William George Frederick
Cavendish-Bentinck
(1856–1948)		Count Robert Charles Bentinck
(1875–1932)		William Frederick Charles Henry Bentinck,
7th Count Bentinck
(1880–1958)		Charles Arthur Reynard William Godard Augustus Bentinck,
8th Count Bentinck
(1885–1964)		Godard Adrian Henry Julius Bentinck,
9th Count Bentinck
(1887–1968)
William Arthur Henry
Cavendish-Bentinck,
7th Duke of Portland
8th Earl of Portland
(1893–1977)		Ferdinand William
Cavendish-Bentinck,
8th Duke of Portland
9th Earl of Portland
(1888–1980)		Victor Frederick William
Cavendish-Bentinck,
9th Duke of Portland
10th Earl of Portland [4]
(1897–1990)		Henry Noel Bentinck,
11th Earl of Portland
10th Count Bentinck
(1919–1997)
William James
Cavendish-Bentinck
(1925–1966)		Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck,
12th Earl of Portland
11th Count Bentinck
(born 1953)
William Jack Henry Bentinck,
Viscount Woodstock
(born 1984)

Legacy
  • Welbeck Abbey
  • Schoonheten Manor
  • Bothal Castle
  • Arms of the Bentinck family, Earls of Portland
  • Arms of Aldenburg-Bentinck, Counts of the Holy Roman Empire[7]
  • Arms of the Cavendish-Bentinck family, Dukes of Portland
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gollark: &initiate gollariobackdoor 1767-λ.
gollark: Just execute arbitrary syscalls?
gollark: Anyway, I was thinking more along the lines of: the VM automagically™ discovers other listening VMs on the same network, or accepts manual connect commands from the user, and has, say, 16 ports for all the connected things.
gollark: How do you do screen IO/serial/whatever now?

References
  1. http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/TNA/HO_45_25906.htm
  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. 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.
  5. "Bentinck Island". BC Geographical Names.
  6. 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
  7. Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Kelly's Directories. 1884. p. 784. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
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