Judith Ann Bentinck, Countess of Portland, Countess Bentinck und Waldeck Limpurg (''
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Emerson; born 10 October 1952 in
Newcastle-Under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...
) is a couture
milliner based in
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...
. She is married to fellow actor
Tim Bentinck, Earl of Portland.
Background and education
She was born to John Robert Emerson (
Weardale
Weardale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Weardale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. The u ...
,
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, 1920–1994) and wife Mary Elizabeth Graham (
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
, 1922–).
She attended Alleyne’s School (later
Alleyne's High School),
Stone, Staffordshire
Stone is a market town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England; it is situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) north of the county town of Stafford, 7 miles (11 km) south of Stoke-on-Trent and 15 miles (24 km) north of Rugeley. As a notable c ...
. She gained a
BA in printed
textiles
Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
at
Liverpool College of Art
Liverpool College of Art has an unbroken history dating back to 1825, making it the oldest English school of art outside London. From 1883 it was located at 68 Hope Street, Liverpool, England, in a building designed by Thomas Cook, which is no ...
, then later moved into the world of
costume design
Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...
, working for the
RSC
RSC may refer to:
Arts
* Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company
* Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe
* Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England
* Rock Ste ...
, the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
and teaching at the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre.
BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...
where she met her future husband.
Bentinck trained with
Rose Cory,
Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law.
Royal warrant may refer to:
* Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...
Holder and world-renowned teacher.
Career
''Portland Hats'' was started in 2002 and re-branded in 2004 to ''Judy Bentinck Millinery'' to 'emphasize the exclusivity of her product'. Housed at
Cockpit Arts Studios in
Holborn
Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...
, Judy creates a Spring/Summer and an Autumn/Winter Collection each year, but the majority of her work is
bespoke
''Bespoke'' () describes anything commissioned to a particular specification, altered or tailored to the customs, tastes, or usage of an individual purchaser. In contemporary usage, ''bespoke'' has become a general marketing and branding concep ...
, by
commission
In-Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...
.
Bentinck teaches millinery through Cockpit Arts Studios and
Central Saint Martins
Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...
.
Family
The former Judy Emerson married the actor
Tim Bentinck
Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Count Bentinck of Waldeck Limpurg (born 1 June 1953), commonly known as Tim Bentinck, is an Australian-born British actor and writer, known for his long-running role as David Arche ...
, who later became 12th Earl of Portland, in London on 8 September 1979; the couple has two sons:
*
William Jack Henry Bentinck, Viscount Woodstock (b. Highgate, 19 May 1984)
* The Hon. Jasper James Mellowes Bentinck (b. London, 12 June 1988)
See also
*
Felicity Finch, who plays the fictional wife
Ruth Archer, of Tim Bentincks's character in ''The Archers''
References
* "Burke's Peerage and Baronetage"
* "Nederlands Adelsboek"
* http://familytrees.genopro.com/iaintait/Tree_Compilation/genomaps/genomap125.svg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentinck, Judy
1952 births
Living people
Artists from Staffordshire
English fashion designers
Judy Bentinck
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
*Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon
*Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine
*Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel
Portland may also r ...
British milliners
People from Newcastle-under-Lyme
Alumni of Liverpool College of Art
English women fashion designers