William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Duke Portland is in Dukedoms of England Alphabetically, Dukedoms of England Chronologically, Extinct Dukedoms of England.
Summary
1716. Henry Bentinck 1st Duke Portland [aged 33] created.
4th July 1726. Son William Bentinck 2nd Duke Portland [aged 17] succeeded.
1st May 1762. Son William Cavendish-Bentinck 3rd Duke Portland [aged 24] succeeded.
30th October 1809. Son William Henry Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck 4th Duke Portland [aged 41] succeeded.
27th March 1854. Son William John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck 5th Duke Portland [aged 53] succeeded.
6th December 1879. First Cousin Once Removed William Cavendish-Bentinck 6th Duke Portland [aged 21] succeeded.
26th April 1943. Son William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck 7th Duke Portland [aged 50] succeeded.
21st March 1977. Third Cousin Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck 8th Duke of Portland [aged 87] succeeded.
13th December 1980. Brother Victor Cavendish-Bentinck 9th Duke of Portland [aged 83] succeeded.
30th July 1990. Victor Cavendish-Bentinck 9th Duke of Portland extinct.
In 1716 Henry Bentinck 1st Duke Portland [aged 33] was created 1st Duke Portland. Elizabeth Noel Duchess Portland [aged 28] by marriage Duchess Portland.
On 4th July 1726 Henry Bentinck 1st Duke Portland [aged 44] died in Spanish Town Jamaica. His body was returned to England. On 03 Nov 1726 he was buried in the Duke of Ormonde Vault, King Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey. His son William [aged 17] succeeded 2nd Duke Portland, 3rd Earl of Portland.
On 11th June 1734 William Bentinck 2nd Duke Portland [aged 25] and Margaret Cavendish Harley 2nd Duchess Portland [aged 19] were married at St Peter aka Oxford Chapel Vere Street Marylebone [Map]. She by marriage Duchess Portland. She the daughter of Edward Harley 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer [aged 45] and Henrietta Cavendish Holles Countess of Oxford and Mortimer [aged 40]. He the son of Henry Bentinck 1st Duke Portland and Elizabeth Noel Duchess Portland [aged 46]. They were sixth cousins.
On 1st May 1762 William Bentinck 2nd Duke Portland [aged 53] died. His son William [aged 24] succeeded 3rd Duke Portland, 4th Earl of Portland.
On 8th November 1766 William Cavendish-Bentinck 3rd Duke Portland [aged 28] and Dorothy Cavendish 3rd Duchess Portland [aged 16] were married. She by marriage Duchess Portland. She the daughter of William Cavendish 4th Duke Devonshire and Charlotte Elizabeth Boyle Marchioness Hartington. He the son of William Bentinck 2nd Duke Portland and Margaret Cavendish Harley 2nd Duchess Portland [aged 51]. They were half fourth cousins.
On 4th August 1795 William Henry Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck 4th Duke Portland [aged 27] and Henrietta Scott Duchess Portland [aged 21] were married. She by marriage Duchess Portland. He the son of William Cavendish-Bentinck 3rd Duke Portland [aged 57] and Dorothy Cavendish 3rd Duchess Portland.
On 30th October 1809 William Cavendish-Bentinck 3rd Duke Portland [aged 71] died. His son William [aged 41] succeeded 4th Duke Portland, 5th Earl of Portland.
On 27th March 1854 William Henry Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck 4th Duke Portland [aged 85] died. His son William [aged 53] succeeded 5th Duke Portland, 6th Earl of Portland although it took him three years before he took his seat in the House of Lords.
On 6th December 1879 William John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck 5th Duke Portland [aged 79] died unmarried at his London residence Harcourt House Cavendish Square Marylebone. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery [Map]. His first cousin once removed William [aged 21] succeeded 6th Duke Portland, 7th Earl of Portland.
On 11th June 1889 William Cavendish-Bentinck 6th Duke Portland [aged 31] and Winifred Anna Dallas-Yorke Duchess Portland [aged 25] were married. She by marriage Duchess Portland.
On 26th April 1943 William Cavendish-Bentinck 6th Duke Portland [aged 85] died. He was buried at St Winifred's Church, Holbeck. His son William [aged 50] succeeded 7th Duke Portland, 8th Earl of Portland, 3rd Baron Bolsover of Bolsover in Derbyshire. Ivy Gordon-Lennox Duchess Portland [aged 55] by marriage Duchess Portland.
On 21st March 1977 William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck 7th Duke Portland [aged 84] died. He was buried at St Winifred's Church, Holbeck. His third cousin Ferdinand [aged 87] succeeded 8th Duke Portland, 9th Earl of Portland. Baron Bolsover of Bolsover in Derbyshire extinct.
The heir to the Duke's titles was a distant cousin. Rather than allow the entailed estates to pass with the titles, the Duke arranged to break the entails and thus enrich his own daughters. The family seat of Welbeck Abbey [Map] passed to his elder daughter, Lady Anne [aged 60], who never married; upon her death, it passed to the son of her deceased younger sister, Lady Margaret, who had died in 1955
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 13th December 1980 Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck 8th Duke of Portland [aged 91] died. His brother Victor [aged 83] succeeded 9th Duke Portland, 10th Earl of Portland.
On 30th July 1990 Victor Cavendish-Bentinck 9th Duke of Portland [aged 93] died without surviving male issue. He was buried at St Winifred's Church, Holbeck. Duke Portland extinct. His half sixth cousin Henry [aged 70] succeeded 11th Earl of Portland.