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 William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Anne and Lord Charles became lovers at some point during her first marriage. 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:
- Anne Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck (1 September 1816 – 7 June 1888).
- Emily Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck (d. 6 June 1850). Married Henry Hopwood.
- Reverend Charles William Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (8 November 1817 – 17 August 1865)
- Lt.-Gen. Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck (10 May 1819 – 11 December 1877). He married first Elizabeth Sophia Hawkins-Whitshed. They were parents of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland. He married secondly Augusta Browne, 1st Baroness Bolsover.
The third child was father to Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck, grandfather to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and great-grandfather to Queen Elizabeth II.
Read more about this topic: Lady Charles Bentinck
Famous quotes containing the words marriages and/or children:
“If marriages were made by putting all the men’s names into one sack and the women’s names into another, and having them taken out by a blindfolded child like lottery numbers, there would be just as high a percentage of happy marriages as we have here in England.... If you can tell me of any trustworthy method of selecting a wife, I shall be happy to make use of it.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“It comes down to a doubt about the wisdom
Of having children after having had them,
So there is nothing we can do about it
But warn the children they perhaps should have none.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)