Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven

Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC (20 October 1660 – 26 July 1723), styled 17th Baron Willoughby de Eresby between 1666 and 1701, and known as 4th Earl of Lindsey between 1701 and 1706, and as 1st Marquess of Lindsey between 1706 and 1715, was a British statesman and nobleman.

The Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Portrait of Lord Ancaster by Godfrey Kneller
Lord Great Chamberlain
In office
1701–1723
Preceded byThe Earl of Lindsey
Succeeded byThe Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
1689–1697
Preceded byRobert Phelips
Succeeded byThe Earl of Stamford
Member of Parliament for Preston
In office
1690–1690
Preceded byJames Stanley
Thomas Patten
Succeeded byChristopher Greenfield
Sir Edward Chisenhall
Member of Parliament for Boston
In office
1685–1690
Preceded bySir Anthony Irby
Sir William Yorke
Succeeded bySir William Yorke
Peregrine Bertie
Personal details
Born
Robert Bertie

(1660-10-20)20 October 1660
Died26 July 1723(1723-07-26) (aged 62)
Political partyTory
Spouses
Mary Wynn
(m. 1678; died 1689)
Albinia Farington
(m. 1705)
Children10, including Peregrine, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Parent(s)Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey
Hon. Elizabeth Wharton
RelativesPeregrine Bertie (brother)
Philip Bertie (brother)
Albemarle Bertie (brother)
Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey (grandfather)
Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton (grandfather)

Early life

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Bertie was the eldest son of Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey and, his second wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Wharton, daughter of Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton.[1] Among his younger brothers were Hon. Peregrine Bertie (the Vice Chamberlain to King William III and to Queen Anne, Teller of the Exchequer), Hon. Philip Bertie (Auditor of the Duchy of Cornwall, who married Lady Elizabeth Brabazon, eldest daughter of William Brabazon, 3rd Earl of Meath), Hon. Norris Bertie (a Lt. of the Royal Navy), and Hon. Albemarle Bertie (MP who also served as Auditor of the Duchy of Cornwall. Among his sisters were Lady Jane Bertie (wife of Maj.-Gen. Edward Mathew, Governor of Grenada), Lady Caroline Bertie (second wife of Capt. George Dewar). From his father's first marriage to Mary (née Massingberd) Berkeley (widow of Hon. George Berkeley and second daughter John Massingberd, Treasurer of the East India Company), he had an elder half-sister, Lady Arabella Bertie (second wife Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers).[1]

His paternal grandparents were Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey, and the former Martha Cokayne. Among his large extended family were uncles Peregrine, Richard, Vere, and Charles Bertie, and aunts Lady Elizabeth (wife of the 3rd Viscount Campden) and Lady Bridget (wife of the 1st Duke of Leeds). His mother was the only child of Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton and the former Elizabeth Wandesford (daughter of Sir Rowland Wandesford of Pickhill, an attorney of the Court of Wards and Liveries).[1]

Career

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Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire

Lord Willoughby entered Parliament as Member of Parliament for Boston in 1685, and sat in the Loyal Parliament, from 1685 to 1687, and the Convention Parliament from 1689 to 1690. He was commissioned captain of an independent troop of horse raised to suppress the Monmouth Rebellion on 20 June 1685.[2] In 1688, Bertie took part in the northern rising led by his kinsman, the Earl of Danby, in favour of William of Orange. He was rewarded with the chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1689, a post which enabled him to secure a seat at Preston at the general election of 1690.[3]

In 1690, he was returned for Preston, but was soon forced to leave the House of Commons for the House of Lords after receiving a writ of acceleration as Baron Willoughby de Eresby.[3] Lord Willougby inherited the earldom of Lindsey on his father's death in 1701, and was invested a Privy Counsellor one month later;[4] along with the Earldom of Lindsey, he also inherited the offices of Lord Great Chamberlain and Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, both of which he would hold until his death and would pass onto his son, the 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven.[3]

Lord Lindsey, as he was now styled, was then created Marquess of Lindsey in 1706,[5] and was finally created Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven in 1715, with a special remainder failing the heirs male of his body, to the heirs male of the body of his father, Robert, late Earl of Lindsey, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Philip, Lord Wharton.[6] Also in 1715, he temporarily served as a Lord Justice.[3]

In 1715, he employed Sir John Vanbrugh to design a baroque front to his house at Grimsthorpe to celebrate his ennoblement as first Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven.[3][7] This was in addition to the London mansion, Lindsey House, at 59-60 Lincoln's Inn Fields, built for the Bertie family in 1640.[8]

Personal life

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On 30 July 1678, Lord Willoughby married Mary Wynn (d. 1689), a Welsh heiress and direct descendant of the princely house of Aberffraw. She was the daughter, and sole heiress, of Sir Richard Wynn, 4th Baronet of Gwydyr Estate and the former Sarah Myddelton (daughter of Sir Thomas Myddelton of Chirk Castle). They had five children, including:[9]

After the death of his first wife in 1689, he married Albinia Farington on 6 July 1705. She was a daughter of Maj.-Gen. William Farington of Chislehurst and the former Theodosia Betenson (sister and co-heiress of Sir Edward Betenson, 1st Baronet). Together, they were the parents of:[6][10]

Lord Ancaster died in July 1723, aged 62, an established but relatively unheralded statesman. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Peregrine. His widow remarried to James Douglas and died in 1745.[6]

Descendants

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Funerary monument in Edenham Church by Henry Scheemakers and Henry Cheere[11]

Through his son Lord Vere, he was a grandfather of Albinia Bertie (wife of George Hobart, 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire) and Louisa Bertie (wife of Lt.-Gen. Hon. Sir Charles Stuart, Governor of Minorca and fourth son of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute).[6]

Through his son Lord Montagu, he was a grandfather of Augusta Bertie, who married John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Lindsey, Earl of (E, 1626)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  2. ^ Dalton, Charles, ed. (1894). English Army lists and commission registers. Vol. II 1685–1689. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. p. 15.
  3. ^ a b c d e "BERTIE, Robert, Lord Willoughby de Eresby (1660-1723)". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. ^ d'Oxford).), Edward Harley (comte; Oxford, Edward Harley Earl of; Hay, William; Trust, Parliamentary History Yearbook (1998). Tory and Whig: The Parliamentary Papers of Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford, and William Hay, M.P. for Seaford, 1716-1753. Boydell & Brewer. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-85115-589-0. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  5. ^ Nicolas, Sir Nicholas Harris; Courthope, William (1857). The Historic Peerage of England: Exhibiting, Under Alphabetical Arrangement, the Origin, Descent, and Present State of Every Title of Peerage which Has Existed in this Country Since the Conquest ; Being a New Edition of the "Synopsis of the Peerage of England". John Murray. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Ancaster and Kesteven, Duke of (GB, 1715 - 1809)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  7. ^ Chilvers, Allan (2010). The Berties of Grimsthorpe Castle. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4520-4327-2. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Lincoln's Inn Fields: Nos. 59 and 60 (Lindsey House) Pages 96-103 Survey of London: Volume 3, St Giles-in-The-Fields, Pt I: Lincoln's Inn Fields". British History Online. LCC 1912. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Bertie genealogy". Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  10. ^ Beatson, Robert (1807). A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1807. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  11. ^ Bath Art and Architecture retrieved 21 March 2022
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Parliament of England
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Boston
1685–1690
With: Peregrine Bertie 1689–1690
Sir William Yorke 1690
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Preston
1690
With: Christopher Greenfield
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1689–1697
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Great Chamberlain
1701–1723
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire
1700–1723
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
1715–1723
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
New creation Marquess of Lindsey
1706–1723
Succeeded by
Preceded by Earl of Lindsey
1701–1723
Baron Willoughby de Eresby
(writ in acceleration)
(descended by acceleration)

1690–1715