Earl of Portland - Second Creation (1689)

Second Creation (1689)

The title was created for a second time in 1689 in favour of William Bentinck, the Dutch favourite and close advisor of King William III. He was made Baron Cirencester and Viscount Woodstock at the same time he was given the earldom, also in the Peerage of England. He was succeeded in 1709 by his son from his first marriage, Henry, the second Earl of Portland. He represented Southampton and Hampshire in the House of Commons. In 1716 he was created Marquess of Titchfield and Duke of Portland in the Peerage of Great Britain. His grandson, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland was a noted politician. He was Prime Minister in 1783 and from 1807 to 1809 and also served as Home Secretary and as Lord President of the Council. In 1801 he assumed by Royal license the additional surname of Cavendish. Portland was the husband of Lady Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, and was a descendant on his mother's side of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The third Duke was succeeded by his eldest son William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland. The fourth Duke was also a politician and served as Lord Privy Seal in 1827 and as Lord President of the Council from 1827 to 1828. He married Henrietta, daughter of Major-General John Scott, in 1795, and assumed by Royal license the same year the additional surname of Scott in the manner of Cavendish-Bentinck. His eldest son and heir apparent, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Marquess of Titchfield, represented King's Lynn in Parliament but died unmarried in 1824, fifteen years before his father. Portland was therefore succeeded by his second son, William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland. The fifth Duke is remembered as a capable architect and engineer who excavated an underground art gallery and library under his estate at Welbeck Abbey.

The fifth Duke died unmarried and was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland, who was the only son from the first marriage of Lieutenant-General Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck, second and youngest son of Lord Charles Bentinck, the third son of the third Duke. Charles' first son, also named Charles, was a maternal great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1880 the sixth Duke also succeeded his stepmother as second Baron Bolsover. He was a Conservative politician and served as Master of the Horse from 1886 to 1892 and from 1895 to 1905. His eldest son William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland was also a Conservative politician and served as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1927 to 1929 and in 1932. The seventh Duke had no sons and was succeeded by his third cousin, Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck, 8th Duke of Portland, a great-grandson of Major-General Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck, fourth son of the third Duke.

The eighth Duke was childless and succeeded by his younger brother, Victor Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland. He was a diplomat and served as Ambassador to Poland. Victor's only son William James Cavendish-Bentinck (1925–1966) predeceased him, childless, and on Portland's death in 1990 at the age of 93 the marquessate of Titchfield and the dukedom of Portland became extinct.

The Duke was succeeded in his remaining titles by his distant relative (his sixth cousin) Henry Bentinck, 11th Earl of Portland. He was the great-great-great-great-grandson of William Bentinck, 1st Graf Bentinck (1704–1774) and eldest son of the 1st Earl from his second marriage, who had been created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1732 (with a Royal Licence of 1886 to use the title in England). Since Henry's death in 1997, the titles are held by his only son, Tim Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland. Tim is also a Count Bentinck of the Holy Roman Empire. He is a well-known actor, known simply as Tim Bentinck.