Author: BERTIE, Willoughby
Biography:
BERTIE, Willoughby (1740-99: ODNB)
The eldest surviving son of Willoughby Bertie (1692-1760), the third Earl of Abingdon, and his wife Anna Maria (Collins), he was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and succeeded to the earldom in June 1760. His date of birth is usually given as 16 Jan. 1740 but there is a baptismal record dated 18 Feb. 1739 for "Willoby Bertie," "son of the Honble Willoby Bertie" in the register of the parish church, All Saints, Gainsborough. It is possible that the record is for an earlier son who died in infancy, but no other record of baptism has been found. It might be that the discrepancy is due to the transition in 1752 from the "old style" Julian calendar to the "new style" Gregorian one. When Bertie matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford (MA 1761), on 29 Jan. 1759, his age was recorded as 19, which is consistent with the later birthdate. He took his seat in the Lords in 1761--which also suggests he had only then reached his majority. On 7 July 1768 he married Charlotte Warren (1749-94), with whom he had seven children. The family seat was at Rycote, Oxfordshire, where he bred racehorses, including the celebrated Potoooooooo. He was an accomplished flautist, composer, and patron of music: J. C. Bach and Haydn dedicated works to him. As a politician he was a vocal but ineffective opponent of the wars against America and France, and a supporter of the French Revolution. Besides the poem listed here, his publications are mostly political pamphlets and speeches. For one of them he was convicted of libel and spent three months in prison. Bertie died on 26 Sept. 1799 and was buried in the chapel at Rycote. He died indebted, however, and the manor house at Rycote was demolished in 1807 on the order of his son Montague Bertie, the fifth earl. (ancestry.com 16 Dec. 2025; ODNB 16 Dec. 2025; Alumni Oxonienses; Wikipedia 16 Dec. 2025; contribution by AA) HJ