The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-12-13 00:00:00

DEATH OF THE DUKE OF PORTLAND,

The Duke of Portland died at Harcourt House, Cavendish-
square, London, at an early hour on Saturday morning, in
the 80th year of his age.—The Times of Monday, in an
obituary notice, gave the following brief sketch of the career
of the deceued nobleman :

The Most Noble William John Cavendish Scott-
Bentinck, fifth Duke of Portland, in the county of
Dorset, Marquis of Titchfield, in the county of South.
hampton, Earl of Portland, Viscount Woodstock, of
Woodstock, in the county of Oxon Baron of Ciren-
cester, in the county of Glace:ter, one of the
coheirs of the ancient Barony of Ogle, and a family
trustee of the British Museum, was born in London
on the 18th of September, 1800. , He was
the second and last surviving son øf William
Henry Cavendish, fourth duke by Henrietta, eldest
daughter and coheiress with her sister, Viscountess
Canning, of the late General John Scott, of Balcomie,
in the county of Fife, whose surname his Grace assumed
by Royal licence in right of his marriage in addition
and be'.ore his own patronymic of Bentinck. In early
life he sat in the Lower House of Parlitmen: for a
short time in the years 1824-26, as one of toe mem-
bers for the constituency of King's Lynn. He suc-
ceeded to the family honours and estates upon the
death of his father in 'the month of Ma-oh, 1854, and
in 1859 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for
the county of Nottingham. His Grace never took an
active part in the proceeding of the Upper House, hut
he steadily supported with his vote the Conservative
Administration of Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli. He was
better known in turf and sporting circles. He was
the owner of magnificent estates in England and Scot-
land, but in his later years he became somewhat of a
recluse. His father, having become impressed with
the idea that there was about to be a scarcity of oak,
planted a tree wherever he could, until his park at
Welbeck Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, was almost a
plantation when he died, in 1651. His son andsuc-
cessor, the subject of this memoir, on taking up his
residence at 'Welbeck. proceeded to improve the
estate, cutting down the superfluous timber, and
laying out the park on the most improved
principles of landscape gardening. He constructed
the most perfect series of kitchen gardens in the king-
dom, with hot, fruit, and forcing houses, and spent
much of his time and great part of hii income in
putting his seat in the Most perfect order for receiving
and entertaining guests in ducal style; but owing
mainly to the state of his health, he kept no company
and gave no entertainments on any occasion. A local
contemporary, in speakin-, of his Grace's endeavour
to convert a stream through his park into a lake six
miles long, says :
"Hundreds of labourers were employed In this and other
work on the estate in hand at good wages, but on One condi-
tion—no one was to speak to him or salute him. The man
who touched his hat was at once discharged. The village
doctor and the parson had the same orders. The tenants
were informed of the duke's wishes, and if they met him they
were to pass him 'as they would a tree.' Yet he was con-
stantly about his domain, planning and superintending im-
provements."

He was, however, in spite of his eccentricities, an ex-
cellent landlord, both in England and Scotland—drain-
ing and building on a large scale, and keeping his farms
in first-rate con,ition. To every useful country work
and every charity he was ready to subscribe, and the
roads, churches, and schools upon the Portland estates
are scarcely surpassed by those on any estate in the
kingdom. As the duke lived and died unmarried, and
as both his younger brothers predeceased him—Lord
George Bentinck having disci suddenly several years
ago, just at the very' moment when it seemed
that he was likely to rally round him the Conservative
party, in 1848, and Lull Henry William Bentinck
dying almost as suddenly on the last day
of the year 1870—the title and estates pass to the
eldest son of the dukee cousin, the late Lieutenant-
-1:31-eneral Arthur Charles Bentinck, younger and only
surviving son of Lord William Charles Augustus
Cavendish Bentinck (who died in 1826), by his second
wife, Anne, daughtei of the Marquis Wellesley. The
late Qeneral Bentincic was twice married—first, in
1857, to Elisabeth Bophia, eldest daughter of the 'late