Resting place Westminster Abbey Name William 2nd | Nationality English Died May 1, 1762 | |
 | ||
Born 1 March 1709 ( 1709-03-01 ) Spouse Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (m. 1734) Parents Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland Children William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland Grandchildren Lord William Bentinck, Lord Charles Bentinck, William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland Similar People William Cavendish‑Bentinck - 3rd Duke, Margaret Bentinck - Duchess, Lord Charles Bentinck, William Bentinck - 1st Earl of, Edward Harley - 2nd Earl of Ox | ||
William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland KG (1 March 1709 – 1 May 1762), styled Viscount Woodstock from 1709 to 1715 and Marquess of Titchfield from 1715 to 1726, was a British peer.
Portland was the son of Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland and his wife Elizabeth Noel, daughter of Wriothesley Baptist Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough. He succeeded his father in the dukedom as a teen in 1726. He was an original governor of the Foundling Hospital in London, founded in 1739, and was made a Knight of the Garter in 1741. He married Lady Margaret Harley, daughter of Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer. They had six children:
The Duke did not seek any public office, but focused on his family life at the family seat, Bulstrode Park.
Portland is identified in The Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities (1909) as one of the perpetrators of The Great Bottle Hoax of 1749, in which a large crowd was lured to a London theater with the expectation of seeing a man jump into a "quart bottle".
Portland died in May 1762, aged 53, was buried at Westminster Abbey. He was succeeded in the dukedom by his eldest son William, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain. The Duchess of Portland died in 1785.