Charles William Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck

The Reverend Charles William Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (8 November, 1817 - 17 August, 1865) was great grandfather of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. His significance lies in his being a royal ancestor, and in his own connections by birth to three powerful British ducal families.

Family

He was born the elder son of Lieutenant Colonel Lord William Charles Augustus Cavendish-Bentinck [http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/bio/charlescavendishbio.html] and Anne Wellesley, formerly Lady Abdy [http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/bio/annewellesleybio.html] .

His paternal grandparents were William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Dorothy Cavendish.

His maternal grandparents were Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley and his wife Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland, an actress at the Palais Royal for many years. Lord Wellesley, a former Governor-General of India was an older brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. [http://www.stirnet.com/HTML/genie/british/ww/wellesley2.htm] .

His paternal grandmother Dorothy Cavendish was a daughter of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire and Charlotte Boyle.

Thus between his own paternal and maternal connections, he was related to three dukes (the highest ranking British peers) and several other aristocratic families. However, as a younger scion, at his birth he had little expectation of succeeding to the title, with his father's eldest brother having fathered several sons. He thus became a clergyman and made two unexceptional marriages, the second into minor landed gentry.

Marriages and Children

He married, firstly, Sinetta Lambourne, daughter of James Lambourne, on 26 September 1839. Sinetta died childless on 19 February, 1850.

He married, secondly, Caroline Louisa Burnaby, daughter of Edwyn Burnaby and Anne Caroline Salisbury, on 13 December 1859. They had three children:

*Nina Cecilie Cavendish-Bentinck (1862 - 1938) (later Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck). Married Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. They were parents to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (d 2002) and thus maternal grandparents to Queen Elizabeth II.
*Ann Violet Cavendish-Bentinck (1864 - 1932).
*Hyacinth Cavendish-Bentinck (1864 -1916). Married Augustus Edward Jessop.

Heir to the Dukedom of Portland

Cavendish-Bentinck died on 17 August 1865 at age 47, thus missing out by more than a decade on the chance to succeed his first cousin as Duke of Portland.

His paternal uncle William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland had died on 27 March, 1854. Two of his sons had predeceased the Duke, including politician Lord George Bentinck who died suddenly, still unmarried on 21 September, 1848.

His first cousin William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland remained unwed. His presumptive heir was his younger brother Lord Henry William Cavendish-Bentinck. Charles was the second-in-line heir at this point.

However both cousins outlived him. Lord Henry William died on 31 December, 1870 and the 5th Duke followed on 6 December, 1879. The heir was William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland, son of Lt.-Gen. Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck who was the younger brother of the Reverend.

Thus Charles's three daughters missed out on a chance to rise socially, although one daughter made a brilliant marriage despite her father's early death.

For further reading

* Usenet group cite news |url=http://groups.google.co.in/groups/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=alt.talk.royalty+Charles+Cavendish-Bentinck+Wellesley&qt_s=Search+Groups |title=alt.talk.royalty |accessdate=2007-03-02 Usenet discussions over 10 years

* A somewhat incomplete genealogy of the Wesley/Wellesley family that shows the relationship between Anne Wellesley, and her father Lord Wellesley and her uncle the Duke of Wellington.

* This is a rather incomplete ancestry table, since it does not give, among others, the titles of the Cavendish-Bentincks who were dukes of Portland.