Artificial collection of material relating to the wider Bentinck family, descendants of William Bentinck, 1st Count Bentinck of the Holy Roman Empire

The collection contains material relating to the descendants of William Bentinck, 1st Count Bentinck of the Holy Roman Empire. This family were distant cousins of the Dukes of Portland of Welbeck Abbey.

This collection is distinct from other collections relating to the estates and family of the Earls and Dukes of Portland.

Hans William Bentinck (1649-1709) was a Dutch nobleman and a friend and adviser to William of Orange. He accompanied him to England in 1688. He continued his close relationship after William was crowned, and his family's eminence in England was based on the rewards given to him, including the title of Earl of Portland. He married twice. His eldest son by his second marriage to Jane Temple was William, 1st Count Bentinck (1704-1774). Count William inherited his father's Dutch estates, and was educated and lived all his adult life in the Netherlands. In 1732 he was created Graf (Count) Bentinck. In 1733 he married Countess Charlotte Sophie von Aldenburg (1715-1800), daughter of Anton II, Count of Aldenburg and his wife Wilhelmine Maria, Princess of Hesse-Homburg. They had two sons: Christian Antoine (1734-1768) and John Albert (1737-1775). The brothers married sisters: Baroness Maria Catherine and Baroness Renira van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Whereas Christian inherited the Bentincks' Dutch estates, John Albert inherited the Earl of Portland's estate at Terrington St Clement, Norfolk, and settled in England. He became a British naval captain and fought in the Seven Years War. John's eldest son William Bentinck (1764-1813) followed his father into the British Royal Navy, and also inherited the Terrington St Clement estate. In 1802, Captain William Bentinck married Lady Frances Eliza Augusta Pierrepont, daughter of Charles Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue in 1805, Rear-Admiral of the White in 1808, and Vice-Admiral of the Blue in 1810. He died of typhus in St Petersburg on 21 February 1813. The Terrington St Clements estate was inherited by his eldest son George W.P. Bentinck, while Lady Frances Bentinck and her younger children settled in Bishopsteighton, Devon.

Accessible to all readers.

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in writing on our Permission to Publish form (see the Reprographics Services part of our website or email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk)

Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

Acquired by The University of Nottingham from diverse sources, and artificially grouped together due to their common subject matter

Papers relating to Doorwerth, and a few more personal papers including William Bentinck's death certificate and will, within the Papers of the Bentinck family, Counts of the Holy Roman Empire (BK)

Letters in French from Charlotte Sophie, Countess Bentinck, to Bentinck's sister Sophia Hawkins Whitshed, née Bentinck, 1790-1799 (Pw F 10081-10343)