Viscount Portman, in the

County of Somerset Somerset ( , ), archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to t ...

, is a title in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

. It was created on 28 March 1873, for the former

Lord Lieutenant of Somerset This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Since 1714, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Somerset. Lord Lieutenants of Somerset *John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1555 * Will ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Member of Parliament Edward Portman, 1st Baron Portman. He had already been created Baron Portman, of

Orchard Portman Orchard Portman is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton. The village has a population of 150. The parish includes the hamlet of Thurlbear and the nearby Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands Site of Special Scie ...

, on 27 January 1837, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His son, the second Viscount, represented

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

as a Liberal. , the titles have been held by one of the latter's great-great-grandsons, the tenth Viscount, since 1999. The family post-1728 is descended in the male line from a junior line of Berkeley of

Stoke Gifford Stoke Gifford is a neighbourhood and Civil parish, parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. Formerly a separate ...

, one of whom married the daughter of Joan Portman, the great-granddaughter of Sir William Portman,

Lord Chief Justice of England The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English an ...

, between 1555 and 1557. He acquired land in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, London, which developed under

Henry William Portman Henry William Portman (1738 – 11 January 1796) was an 18th-century housing developer, the ancestor of the Viscounts Portman. Biography He was the son and heir of Henry William Berkeley Portman MP (died 1761), by his wife Anne Fitch. His gran ...

into the

Portman Estate Portman may refer to: * Portman (surname) * Viscount Portman Places * Portmán, a town near Cartagena, Spain * Orchard Portman, a village and civil parish in Somerset, England * Portman Estate, 110 acres in Marylebone in London’s West End * Por ...

, a cornerstone of the family's wealth. The judge's grandson was created a baronet in 1612 (see

Portman Baronets The Portman baronetcy, of Orchard Portman in the County of Somerset, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 25 November 1611 for John Portman (died 1612), son of Sir Henry Portman, knight (died 1590), of Orchard Portman, Som ...

). In its third generation, when

Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet (5 September 1643 – 18 March 1690) FRS was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1661 and 1690. Portman was the son of Sir William Portman, 5th Baronet and his wife Anne Colles, daugh ...

, died in 1690 without progeny, the bulk of the estates passed to a husband of the family: Henry Seymour (d.1728), MP, 5th son of

Sir Edward Seymour, 3rd Baronet Sir Edward Seymour, 3rd Baronet (10 September 1610 – 4 December 1688) of Berry Pomeroy Castle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1688. He fought for the Royalist cause in the English ...

Berry Pomeroy Berry Pomeroy is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England, east of the town of Totnes. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Ipplepen, Marldon, Torbay (unitary authority), Stoke G ...

, Devon (by

coverture Coverture was a legal doctrine in English common law under which a married woman's legal existence was considered to be merged with that of her husband. Upon marriage, she had no independent legal existence of her own, in keeping with society's ...

applying to his wife Anne Portman, second daughter of

Sir John Portman, 1st Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

). Seymour took the surname Portman in lieu of his patronymic, but left no issue. The property then devolved to another cousin, William Berkeley (d.1737) of

Pylle Pylle is a village and civil parish south west of Shepton Mallet, and from Wells, in the county of Somerset, England. It has a population of 160. The parish includes the hamlet of Street on the Fosse. The village is very close to the site ...

, Somerset, who likewise took the surname Portman. His great-grandson was

Edward Berkeley Portman Edward Berkeley Portman (31 January 1771 – 19 January 1823, Rome) of Bryanston House, Bryanston, Dorset was an 18th-century English housing developer and politician. He was the son of Henry Portman, and ultimately a descendant of the Tud ...

(1771–1823), MP for

and father of

Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman {{Infobox noble , name = Viscount Portman , title = , image = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = , reign ...

. The family seat was Bryanston House, near

Bryanston Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 925. The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an in ...

, Dorset, which has been a large private school since 1928.

Viscounts Portman (1873)

* Edward Berkeley Portman, 1st Viscount Portman (1799–1888) * Henry Berkeley Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman (1829–1919) *

Henry Berkeley Portman, 3rd Viscount Portman Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainment ...

(1860–1923) *

Claud Berkeley Portman, 4th Viscount Portman Claud is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Claud Allister (1888–1970), English actor *Claud Beelman (1883–1963), American architect * Claud Irvine Boswell (1742–1824), Scottish judge *Claud Thomas Bourchier (1831–1877), ...

(1864–1929) *

Edward Claud Berkeley Portman, 5th Viscount Portman Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

(1898–1942) *

Seymour Berkeley Portman, 6th Viscount Portman Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township **Seymour railway station * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria *Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Seym ...

(1868–1946) *

Gerald Berkeley Portman, 7th Viscount Portman Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

(1875–1948) * Gerald William Berkeley Portman, 8th Viscount Portman (1903–1967) * Edward Henry Berkeley Portman, 9th Viscount Portman (1934–1999) * Christopher Edward Berkeley Portman, 10th Viscount Portman (b. 1958) The

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

is the present holder's son the Hon. Luke Henry Oliver Richard Berkeley Portman (b. 1984).The young elite 1–10
/ref>

Wealth

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. *

External links

Portman Estate
London

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portman Viscountcies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1873 Peerages created for UK MPs *