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CAVENDISH-BENTINCK, WILLIAM HENRY, 3RD DUKE OF PORTLAND, elder son of William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, and Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, only dau. of Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (qv); b. 14 Apr 1738; styled Marquis of Titchfield to 1762; adm. May 1747 (Watts'); left Dec 1754; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 4 Mar 1755; MA 1 Feb 1757; DCL 7 Oct 1792; LLD Tinity Coll. Dublin 18 May 1782; assumed additional surname of Cavendish 1755; MP Weobley 1761 - 1 May 1762; succ. father as 3rd Duke of Portland 1 May 1762; Lord Chamberlain 15 Jul 1765 - 26 Nov 1766; Privy Councillor 10 Jul 1765; Lord Lieut., Ireland, 10 Apr - 15 Sep 1782; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 21 Apr - 19 Dec 1783; although previously a committed Whig politician, he became alarmed by the French Revolution and joined William Pitt’s government in 1794; Secretary of State for Home Affairs, 11 Jul 1794 - 30 Jul 1801, Lord President of the Council 30 Jul 1801 - 14 Jan 1805; KG 16 Jul 1801; Prime Ministry and First Lord of the Treasury 31 Mar 1807 - 28 Sep 1809, when he resigned through ill-health; Chancellor of Oxford University from 27 Sep 1792; Lord Lieut., Nottinghamshire, from 19 Jun 1795; FRS 5 Jun 1766; a Busby Trustee from 14 Mar 1765; m. 8 Nov 1766 Lady Dorothy Cavendish, only dau. of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire PC KG; d. 30 Oct 1809. DNB.

RUSSELL, JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL, third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (qv), and his first wife; b. 18 Aug 1792; adm. 23 Sep 1803 (G); fag to his brother Lord Tavistock; kept a diary while at the School, including a list of the School for Oct 1803; left Bartholomewtide 1804; Edinburgh Univ. 1809-12; MP Tavistock 4 May 1813 – Mar 1817, 1818-20, Huntingdonshire 1820-6, Bandon Bridge 19 Dec 1826-30, Tavistock 24 Nov 1830-1, Devon 1831-2, South Devon 1832 – Apr 1835, Stroud 29 May 1835-41, City of London 1841- 30 Jul 1861; made his first speech in favour of parliamentary reform 14 Dec 1819; successfully moved repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 26 Feb 1828; Privy Councillor 22 Nov 1830; Paymaster-Gen. of the Forces 13 Dec 1830 – Nov 1834, also member of Cabinet Jun 1831 – Nov 1834; moved first reading of Reform Bill 31 Mar 1831; introduced Reform Bill for second time 24 Jun 1831, and for third time 12 Dec 1831; advocated reform of the Irish Church 1833-4; leader of Whigs in House of Commons Apr 1835 onwards; Secretary of State for Home Affairs 18 Apr 1835 – Aug 1839; carried through the Municipal Corporations Bill, and diminished the number of offences liable to capital punishment; Secretary for War and the Colonies 30 Aug 1839 – Aug 1841; declared for total repeal of the Corn Laws in his Edinburgh Letter of 22 Nov 1845, and supported their repeal by Peel in 1846; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Jul 1846 – Feb 1852; carried the bill for removing Jewish disabilities through the House of Commons 1848, and responsible for the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill of 1851; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Aberdeen ministry Dec 1852 – Feb 1853, when he resigned but remained in Cabinet without office and continued to lead the House of Commons; Lord President of the Council 12 Jun 1854 – Jan 1855, resigning because of his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Crimean War; Plenipotentiary to Vienna Congress 11 Feb 1855; Secretary of State for the Colonies 1 May – 13 Jul 1855; opposed Disraeli’s Reform Bill of 1859; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 18 Jun 1859 – Nov 1865; the Reform Bill introduced by him on 1 Mar 1860 was subsequently dropped; created Earl Russell 30 Jul 1861; KG 21 May 1862; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Nov 1865 – 18 Jun 1866, resigning on defeat of his Government’s Reform Bill by the ‘Adullamites”; declined Cabinet office in Gladstone’s administration formed in Dec 1868; received freedom City of London 9 Jul 1831; LLD Edinburgh Univ. 8 Nov 1845; FRS 6 May 1847; Lord Rector, Aberdeen Univ., from 1863; GCMG 25 Mar 1869; Busby Trustee 2 Jun 1863; a sincere and able Whig with the courage of his opinions, and a store of constitutional and historical knowledge; although no orator, a skilful debater and creator of telling phrases; edited Letters of the Fourth Duke of Bedford, 1842-6; author, Essay on the English Constitution, and other works; m. 1st, 11 Apr 1835 Adelaide, widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale (qv), and half-sister of Thomas Henry Lister (qv); m. 2nd, 20 Jul 1841 Lady Frances Anna Maria Elliot, second dau. of Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto; d. 28 May 1878. DNB.

WATSON-WENTWORTH, CHARLES, 2ND MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM, brother of William Watson-Wentworth, Viscount Higham (qv); b. 13 May 1730; adm. Apr 1738 (Morel's); styled Viscount Higham 1739-46, Earl of Malton 1746-50; it is related that on one occasion while he was at school he “dressed himself up in a hoop and petticoat” and hiring a sedan chair called upon Dr. Nicoll, the Head Master, and asked to be shown over the School (Mrs Stirling, ed., The Hothams, ii, 16); served as a volunteer under the Duke of Cumberland during the insurrection of 1745-6 (Lord Albemarle, Fifty Years of my Life, 1876, ii, 331-2); Grand Tour (Italy, Germany) 1748-50; created Earl of Malton (I) 17 Sep 1750; succ. father as 2nd Marquis of Rockingham 14 Dec 1750; a Lord of the Bedchamber 18 Jul 1751 – Oct 1762; Lord Lieut., Yorkshire West Riding 18 Jul 1751 – 25 Feb 1763, and from 12 Sep 1765; Vice-Adm., Yorkshire 1755- Jan 1763 and from 1776; KG 6 May 1760; bearer of sceptre and orb at Coronation of George III 22 Sep 1761; resigned from Bedchamber Oct 1762 and dismissed from Lieutenancy and Vice-Admiralty of Yorkshire Jan-Feb 1763; on Pitt’s refusal of office in Jul 1765 Rockingham formed a new administration; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 10 Jul 1765 – Jul 1766; Privy Councillor 10 Jul 1765; annoyed George III by repealing the Stamp Act, refusing allowances to the King’s brothers, and condemning General Warrants; dismissed from office Jul 1766; led opposition in House of Lords 1767-82; declared for the independencve of the American Colonies, and supported Sir George Savile’s bill for the partial enfranchisement of Roman Catholics; formed his second ministry in Mar 1782; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury from 27 Mar 1782; conceded legislative independence to Ireland and initiated reforms to curtail the power of the Crown; FRS 7 Nov 1751; FSA 13 Feb 1752; member, Society of Dilettanti 1755; Busby Trustee 14 Apr 1763; a prominent Whig politician; a patron of the Turf and owner of Allabaculia, winner of the first St. Leger in 1776; m. 26 Feb 1752 Mary, dau. of Thomas Bright (formerly Liddell), Badsworth, Yorks .; d. 1 Jul 1782. DNB.