William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland

Portland was the elder son of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland, and his wife, Winifred Anna (née Dallas-Yorke). He was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newark in 1922, a seat he held until he succeeded his father in the dukedom in 1943, and served as a Junior Lord of the Treasury under Stanley Baldwin from 1927 to 1929 and under Ramsay MacDonald in 1932. Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee during the 39-45 war. He also held the honorary posts of Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire between 1939 and 1962 and was the second Chancellor of the University of Nottingham between 1954 and 1971. In 1948 he was made a Knight of the Garter. He also held the appointment of the honorary air commodore of No. 616 Squadron RAF.[1]

Portland married Ivy Gordon-Lennox, daughter of Colonel Lord Algernon Charles Gordon-Lennox and granddaughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, on 12 August 1915. They had two daughters:[2]

• Lady (Alexandra Margaret) Anne Cavendish-Bentinck (6 September 1916 – 21 December 2008)
• Lady (Victoria) Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck (9 October 1918 – 29 August 1955)

He died in March 1977, aged 84, and was interred at the traditional burial place of the Dukes of Portland, in the churchyard of St Winifred's Church at Holbeck.

He was succeeded in the dukedom by his third cousin Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck. Subsidiary title Baron Bolsover became extinct on the death. The family seat of Welbeck Abbey passed to his elder daughter, Lady Anne, who never married; it then passed to the son of her deceased younger sister Lady Margaret who died 1955 aged 36. Her husband was Don Gaetano Parente, Principe di Castel Viscardo,[lower-alpha 1] Italy. The nephew's name was William Henry Marcello Parente (born 18 February 1951), who served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 2003–04.[3]

Portland was a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Footnote

Little is published of his wealth. His probate was sworn in 1977 at £4,391,478 (equivalent to about £27,500,000 in 2019), three times that of his father's assets passing at point of death (in real terms).[4]

• http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/portland1907/portland1.htm "The Portland Peerage Romance (1907)"
• https://web.archive.org/web/20130113035008/http://www.angelfire.com/in/heinbruins/Bentinck.html "The Descendants of Willem Bentinck and Charlotte Aldenburg"
• Michael Rhodes "High Sheriffs for 2003-4" alt.talk.royalty, 21 March 2003
• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Portland
• William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland