William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
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| Missing image W_h_cavendish-bentinck.jpg Image:W_h_cavendish-bentinck.jpg | |
| Periods in Office: | April 2, 1783–December 19, 1783 March 31, 1807–October 4, 1809 |
| Predecessors: | The Earl of Shelburne The Lord Grenville |
| Successors: | William Pitt the Younger Spencer Perceval |
| Date of Birth: | 14 April 1738 |
| Place of Birth: | Nottinghamshire |
| Date of Death: | 30 October 1809 |
| Place of Death: | Bulstrode, Buckinghamshire |
| Political Party: | Whig, later Tory |
William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, (April 14, 1738 - October 30, 1809) was a British Whig and Tory statesman and Prime Minister. He was known before 1762 by the courtesy title Marquess of Titchfield.
Lord Titchfield, the eldest son of the 2nd Duke of Portland, was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford and was elected to Parliament in 1761 before entering the Lords when he succeeded his father as Duke of Portland the next year. Associated with the aristocratic Whig party of Lord Rockingham, Portland served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household in Rockingham's first Government (1765-1766), and then as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Rockingham's second ministry (April-August 1782), but resigned from Lord Shelburne's ministry along with other supporters of Charles James Fox following Rockingham's death.
In April 1783, Portland was brought forward as titular head of a coalition government whose real leaders were Charles James Fox and Lord North. He served as First Lord of the Treasury in this ministry until its fall in December of the same year.
Along with many other conservative Whigs (such as Edmund Burke), Portland was deeply uncomfortable with the French Revolution, and ultimately broke with Fox over this issue, joining Pitt's government as Home Secretary in 1794. He continued to serve in the cabinet until Pitt's death in 1806 - from 1801 to 1805 as Lord President of the Council, and then as a Minister without Portfolio.
When Pitt's supporters returned to power after the collapse of the Ministry of all the Talents in March, 1807, Portland was, once again, an acceptable figurehead for a fractious group of ministers who included George Canning, Lord Castlereagh, Lord Hawkesbury, and Spencer Perceval.
Portland's second government saw England's complete isolation on the continent, but also the beginning of recovery, with the start of the Peninsular War. In late 1809, with Portland's health poor and the ministry rocked by the scandalous duel between Canning and Castlereagh, Portland resigned, dying shortly thereafter.
The Portland Vase was given its name due to it having been owned by Portland.
Portland is a great-great-great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II (see Ancestors of Queen Elizabeth II).
The Duke of Portland's First Ministry, April - December 1783
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- The Duke of Portland - First Lord of the Treasury
- Lord Stormont - Lord President of the Council
- Lord Carlisle - Lord Privy Seal
- Lord North - Secretary of State for the Home Department
- Charles James Fox - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- Lord Keppel - First Lord of the Admiralty
- Lord John Cavendish - Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Lord Townshend - Master-General of the Ordnance
- Lord Northington - Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
- The Great Seal is in Commission
The Duke of Portland's Second Ministry, March 1807 - October 1809
- The Duke of Portland - First Lord of the Treasury
- Lord Eldon - Lord Chancellor
- Lord Camden - Lord President of the Council
- Lord Westmorland - Lord Privy Seal
- Lord Hawkesbury, after 1808, Lord Liverpool - Secretary of State for the Home Department
- George Canning - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- Lord Castlereagh - Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
- Lord Mulgrave - First Lord of the Admiralty
- Spencer Perceval - Chancellor of the Exchequer and of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Lord Chatham - Master-General of the Ordnance
- Lord Bathurst - President of the Board of Trade
Changes
- July, 1809 - Lord Harrowby, the President of the Board of Control, and Lord George Leveson-Gower, the Secretary at War, enter the Cabinet
| Preceded by: The Earl Gower | Lord Chamberlain 1765–1766 | Succeeded by: The Earl of Hertford | |||
| Preceded by: The Earl of Carlisle | Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1782 | Succeeded by: The Earl Temple | |||
| Preceded by: Henry Dundas | Home Secretary 1794–1801 | Succeeded by: Lord Pelham | |||
| Preceded by: The Earl of Chatham | Lord President of the Council 1801–1805 | Succeeded by: The Viscount Sidmouth | |||
| Preceded by: — | Minister without Portfolio 1805–1806 | Succeeded by: — | |||
| Preceded by: The Lord Grenville | Prime Minister 1807–1809 | Succeeded by: Spencer Perceval
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