Elizabeth Livingston Cavendish-Bentinck

Elizabeth Cavendish-Bentinck (née Livingston; August 12, 1855 – November 4, 1943) was an American born member of the Livingston family who married a British Member of Parliament from the Cavendish-Bentinck family and was a prominent member of New York Society during the Gilded Age.[1]

Elizabeth Livingston Cavendish-Bentinck
Born
Elizabeth Livingston

August 12, 1855
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Died4 November 1943(1943-11-04) (aged 88)
London, England
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1880; died 1909)​
Children2
Parents
Relatives

Early life
Elizabeth's twin sister, Ruth, by Francois Glamony

Elizabeth was born in Newport, Rhode Island on August 12, 1855. She was the daughter of Ruth Baylies (1817–1918) and Maturin Livingston Jr. (1815–1888). Her parents lived at the former home of her paternal grandfather, Maturin Livingston (1769–1847), a prominent lawyer and politician from New York, in Staatsburg, New York.[2] Elizabeth had a twin sister, Ruth T. Livingston (1855–1920),[2] who was the wife of Ogden Mills (1856–1929),[3] and the mother of Ogden Livingston Mills, the United States Secretary of the Treasury.[4][5]

Society life

In 1899, her cousin, Louisa Matilda Livingston, who was married to Elbridge T. Gerry, the grandson of U.S. Vice President Elbridge Gerry, gave a reception and dance in honor of their eldest daughter, Mary, in advance of her presentation the following spring at the Court of St. James and subsequent debut in London Society. The event was also the debut of Gerry's son, Peter Robert Goelet Gerry (1879–1957).[6]

In 1904, while renting Highcliffe Castle, the Cavendish-Bentinck's were host to King Edward VII, in Christchurch.[7]

Elizabeth was included on Ward McAllister's list of New York's social elite during the Gilded Age, known as "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times[8] She was known for being one of the many well-known transatlantic marriages between American heiresses and members of the British Peerage.[9][10]

Personal life

On August 12, 1880, she married William George Cavendish-Bentinck (1854–1909), the son of The Rt. Hon. George Augustus Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (1821–1891) and Prudentia Penelope Leslie (d. 1896), the daughter of Col. Charles Powell Leslie II (1769–1831). His father, a British barrister and cricketer was also a Conservative member of parliament from 1859 to 1891, who was the only son of Major-General Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (1781–1828), the fourth son of Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738–1809), and brother to William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland (1768–1854).[11] Together, they had:[12]

  • Mary Augusta Cavendish-Bentinck (1881–1913), who married John Gorman Ford (1866–1917), the 1st Secretary of the British Legation to Rome, son of diplomat Clare Ford, on 3 November 1906.[13][14]
  • Ruth Evelyn Cavendish-Bentinck (1883–1978), who married Walter Spencer Morgan Burns (1872–1929),[15] nephew of J. P. Morgan and grandson of Junius Spencer Morgan, both well-known American bankers, in 1907.[16][17]

In 1909, her husband died at age 55, at Forest Farm, Windsor, Berkshire.[1][18] In 1914, she had a family mausoleum built in the Churchyard of St Giles in Hertfordshire, designed by Robert Weir Schultz.[19] Elizabeth died on November 4, 1943 in London.[4]

References
  1. Times, Special Cable To The New York (23 August 1909). "G. CAVENDISH-BENTINCK DEAD | Wife Was Elizabeth Livingston, Sister of Mrs. Ogden Mills". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  2. Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1345. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  3. "Ogden Mills Dies At His Home Here. Financier Is the Victim of Pneumonia After Three Weeks Illness. He Was 72 Years Old. Active in Many Philanthropies and Long a Leader in Social Affairs. A Native of California. Interested in Racing". The New York Times. January 29, 1929. Retrieved 2013-12-18. Ogden Mills financier and father of Ogden L. Mills, Under-Secretary of the Treasury, died at 1:30 A.M. today at his home, 2 East Sixty-ninth Street, following an illness of more than three weeks. ...
  4. "MRS. CAVENDISH-BENTINCK | Former Elizabeth Livingston, a Member of Noted N.Y. Family". The New York Times. 7 November 1943. p. 56. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  5. "LARGE AMERICAN DOWRIES". The New York Times. 19 November 1893. p. 12. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  6. "A DANCE AT MRS. GERRY'S.; The Affair Was in Honor of Miss Cavendish-Bentinck and Marked the Debut of Robert G. Gerry". The New York Times. 13 January 1899. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  7. "KING GUEST OF AMERICAN.; British Ruler Visits Mrs. Cavendish Bentinck at Highcliffe Castle". The New York Times. 18 July 1904. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  8. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  9. Montgomery, Maureen E. (August 6, 2013). 'Gilded Prostitution': Status, Money and Transatlantic Marriages, 1870-1914. Routledge. ISBN 9781136214950. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  10. "Staatsburgh State Historic Site: American Heiresses & English Lords: A Match Made in Heaven?". Staatsburgh State Historic Site. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  11. "THE BENTINCKS.; THE LATE DUKE OF PORTLAND AND HIS FAMILY". The New York Times. 25 December 1879. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  12. Depew, Chauncey M. (October 20, 2013). Titled Americans, 1890: A list of American ladies who have married foreigners of rank. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781783660056. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  13. "Portland, Duke of (GB, 1716 - 1990)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Cracrofts Peerage. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  14. "FORD -- CAVENDISH-BENTINCK". The New York Times. 4 November 1906. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  15. Brock, Michael; Brock, Eleanor (June 26, 2014). Margot Asquith's Great War Diary 1914-1916: The View from Downing Street. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780191017087. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  16. "BURNS -- CAVENDISH-BENTINCK". The New York Times. 10 February 1907. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  17. "Ruth Evelyn Burns (née Cavendish-Bentinck)". npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  18. Lloyd, Brigitte Gastel. "Biography of William George Cavendish-Bentinck (1854-1909)". brigittegastelancestry.com. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  19. "Cavendish Bentinck Mausoleum". www.mmtrust.org.uk. Mausolea & Monuments Trust. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
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