Lady Charles Bentinck
Lady Charles Bentinck (1788 – 19 March 1875), born Anne Wellesley, and previously (between 1806 and 1816) known as Lady Abdy, was a British aristocrat and a great-great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II.
Background
Bentinck was a daughter of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, and his mistress, Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland, an actress at the Palais Royal for many years. Her paternal grandparents were Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, and Anne Hill, daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon. Her paternal uncles included Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington; William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington; and Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley. Her parents were married six years after her birth, on 29 March 1794, at which point she was legitimized.
Marriages and children
On 3 July 1806 Anne married her first husband, Sir William Abdy, 7th Baronet. Their marriage lasted nine years, but remained childless.
Abdy had introduced her to his friend Lord Charles Bentinck, a younger son of former British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland. At some point during her first marriage, Anne and Lord Charles became lovers. They eloped on 5 September 1815, following which Abdy brought a suit for criminal conversation (crim.con. in Regency parlance) for 30,000 pounds, but won only 7,000 pounds in damages. During the discussion of the divorce bill, the customary provision against remarriage was struck out in the House of Lords. Lady Abdy (or rather, her husband Sir William Abdy) was granted a divorce on 25 June 1816. Anne and Lord William were married on 23 July 1816, enabling their first child (which she was expecting) to be born legitimate three weeks later. They had four children:
Charles Bentinck
Charles Bentinck may refer to:
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