Talk:John Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland

Cavendish x 2
Is the doubling of Cavendish in "William John Cavendish Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck" on purpose? --Hburdon 19:33, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

The Tichborne Case
Should there not be a reference to the Tichborne case, as being rather similar? Jackiespeel (talk) 16:05, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

The Druce Portland Case
There were several components/trials. Anna Maria Druce was described in the 1908 perjury trials as "being insane and probably having been so for a long time": the 1907 trial was in effect an inheritance dispute between TC Druce's son and grandson (being half uncle and nephew). (Based on information in The Times) Jackiespeel (talk) 15:33, 26 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree totally. Also, I think it would make a fine article of its own, since it was something of a celebrated case. Salmanazar (talk) 17:01, 20 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Will write something up - but may be too much Original Research for Wikipedia. Jackiespeel (talk) 15:33, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

Is the 'other witness' declared insane Caldwell? Some of Anna Maria Druce's statements in the legal sequence beginning in 1898 (as quoted in The Times) are 'somewhat out of the box' - she was told off by the judge for being abusive towards her lawyer, stated without prompting that she did not need a straightjacket etc. She started off by claiming that TC Druce was also a Dr Harmer whom she had encountered, and then shifted to the Duke. "It is possible to deduce" that one of the motivations in allowing this original case to proceed was a jurisdictional one - whether the ecclesiastical court or the Home Office had the right to authorise an exhumation from a consecrated burial ground. There was enough circumstantial evidence (including the fact that she had previously made use of TCD's will in a court case, the three chaps having different birth years, and various statments by reputable people that TCD was dead) for the case to be dismissed.

It is the second trial (based on George Hollamby's initiative) that is the 'puzzle' - given that the early trial had been dismissed. There seems to have been some deliberate encouragement of perjury/creative writing etc.

Possibly if Thomas Charles Druce's ancestry could be deduced (especially as his photographs were seen to resemble both Dr Harmer and the Duke) the story would simplify somewhat.

Inspector Walter Dew makes a passing appearance in the story btw. Jackiespeel (talk) 18:27, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

There are a number of files at The National Archives on the whole affair - of which the "box of documents" filed at DPP 1/11 is the most extensive. Jackiespeel (talk) 15:33, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

A piece on the DP case will 'appear' at The History Files shortly.

AMD was stated as being 'delusional' by some of the lawyers in the original case. Jackiespeel (talk) 18:28, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

The article referred to above is here. (And as Lenin was in London in 1908 as the cases wound up, he might well have discussed the matter - and even gone to see the grave, which is in Highgate Cemetery.) Jackiespeel (talk) 18:25, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Contradictory content
Under 'Eccentricity' is says: He is not known to have kept company with any ladies and his shyness and introverted personality increased over time. Under 'Children' it says: There is evidence to believe that the duke had a daughter, Fanny (later Fanny Lawson; 1855–1917), and possibly two sons, William (c. 1852–1870) and Joseph, all of them illegitimate. The duke had numerous intimate and discreet relationships during his lifetime,... This would imply that he did keep the company of ladies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ulalena (talk • contribs) 23:48, 7 July 2018 (UTC)


 * At least briefly. —Tamfang (talk) 21:57, 8 July 2018 (UTC)