Bentinck, WILLIAM, first Earl of Portland, born in Holland in 1649, was the descendant of a noble family which in the 14th century had migrated from the Palatinate to Gelderland, where it is still represented by a younger line. He was from boyhood the favourite and friend of William III., and was founder of the fortune of the Bentinck family in England. He was constantly employed, both in military and diplomatic services, and trusted beyond all others with the secrets of the king's foreign policy. After the coronation of William and Mary, Bentinck was created an English peer, and presented with large estates and numerous offices in the royal household; but these last he resigned in 1699, from jealousy of Arnold van Keppel, Earl of Albemarle. The king's affection, however, never wavered to the end of his life, and his last audible words were an inquiry for his favourite. Bentinck died in 1709.—WILLIAM CAVENDISH BENTINCK, third Duke of Portland, born in 1738, entered Lord Rockingham's cabinet in 1765, and succeeded him as leader of the Whig party. He was twice prime-minister—April to December 1783, and 1807-9; but his best work was done as Home Secretary under Pitt, with charge of Irish affairs, throughout the eventful period 1794-1801. He died a month after resigning the premiership, November 30, 1809.—LORD WILLIAM CAVENDISH BENTINCK, Indian statesman, second son of the third Duke of Portland, was born in 1774, and became an ensign in the Coldstream Guards in 1791. Having served with distinction in Flanders and Italy, he was governor of Madras (1803-7), where he advocated several useful reforms; but his proscription of sepoys beards and turbans led to the massacre of Vellore, and his own immediate recall. From 1808 to 1814 he was serving in the Peninsula and Italy; in 1827 he was appointed governor-general of Bengal, and in 1833 became the first governor-general of India. His policy in India was pacific and popular, and his viceroyship was marked by the suppression of suttee and thuggism, the educating and employment of natives, the opening up of the internal communication, and the establishment of the overland route. He returned to England in 1835, and died at Paris, June 17, 1839. See a Life by Boulger (1892).
LORD GEORGE BENTINCK, sportsman and leader of the Protectionists, the third son of the fourth Duke of Portland, was born 27th February 1802, and, entering the army in 1819, attained six years afterwards the rank of major. From 1822 to 1825 he was private secretary to his uncle, Mr Canning, and in 1826 was elected member for Lynn-Regis. At first, attached to no party, he voted for Catholic emancipation and for the principle of the Reform Bill, but against several of its most important details, and in favour of the celebrated Chandos clause. On the formation of Peel's ministry in December 1834, he and his friend Lord Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby, with some adherents, formed a separate section in the House of Commons; but, on Peel's resignation in the following April, Lord George openly joined the Conservative party, and in 1841 received from Peel an offer of office, which he declined, being at that time too deeply engrossed in racing and field-sports. When Peel introduced his free-trade measures in 1845, a large body of his supporters formed a Protection party, Lord George assuming its leadership, and taking henceforth a prominent part in the debates. A hard hitter, and a master of figures, he was no orator; yet his speeches in the session of 1846 were most damaging to the government of Sir Robert Peel, and contributed in no small degree to hasten its downfall. He was always a champion of religious liberty, advocating the removal of the Jewish disabilities, and the endowment of the Irish Catholic clergy out of the land; and at the time of the potato famine he wanted government to lend £16,000,000 for reproductive works in Ireland. He was an 'Admirable Crichton' of field-sports, and though he never did win the Derby, had brilliant success on the turf, whose dishonest practices he showed the utmost zeal to suppress. He died suddenly, 21st September 1848, whilst walking near Welbeck Abbey. See his Life by Lord Beaconsfield (1851), and his Racing Life by Lawley (1892).