Past Prime Ministers
Born 14 April 1738 ,
Died 30 October 1809, Bulstrode, Buckinghamshire
Dates in office April 1783 - December 1783
Dates in office (Second term) 31 March 1807 - 4 October 1809
Political party Whig
Major acts
Treaty of Paris 1783 - formal end to American War of Independence
William Bentinck Duke of Portland
1783 - 1783
1807 - 1809
“My fears are not that the attempt to perform this duty will shorten my life, but that I shall neither bodily nor mentally perform it as I should.”
A tall, dignified and handsome man, Portland was prime minister for two short periods separated by over 20 years, but was not especially successful in either. The Duke of Portland entered Parliament via the House of Lords, by virtue of his title, in 1761. In 1783, he was appointed Prime Minister of the Whig administration by King George III.
The Duke of Portland’s first government was concerned with the power of the East India Company.
In 1783 Charles Fox attempted to persuade Parliament to pass a bill that would replace the company’s directors with a board of commissioners.
Government resignation
George III made it known to the House of Lords that he would consider anyone voting with the Bill an enemy. As a result of this interference, Portland’s government resigned.
Portland served in the governments of other Whig leaders until his second government, over 20 years later. In 1807 Portland became PM, insisting that he was still a Whig, despite heading a Tory government.
By now too old and ill to run the government, he mostly left his Cabinet to do what they wanted.
The period was marked by rivalry between two powerful ministers, Castlereagh and Canning, culminating in a duel between the two in 1809 over the running of the Peninsular War.
Portland resigned in 1809, just weeks before his death.