Winifred, Duchess of Portland, is well-remembered locally as a pillar of society and friend of the community.
Her life of good works and civic duties seems to have been exemplary, and she was much loved by those she helped.
Perhaps less well remembered is that she was President of the Society for the Protection of Birds for more than 60 years. I thought I had done well, working for the RSPB (as it now is) for 25 years as staff and volunteer, but Duchess Winifred’s dedication and loyalty to the cause of wild bird protection was extraordinary.
Portrait of Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, sixth Duchess of Portland (1863-1954) by John Singer Sargent, 1902. © Harley Foundation, The Portland Collection
Winifred’s Involvement
In 1891, Winifred was invited to take up the role of President soon after the organisation was established, and she readily accepted. She was recently married, establishing herself at Welbeck and starting to have a family. To begin with, with one exception, it was all women who founded the campaign.
For the first decade or so the campaign group grew steadily, and Winifred used her influence to bring many titled people on board. She became friends with Princess Alexandra, for example, and the Royal connection would be key to the progress of the campaign’s aims.
After the turn of the 20th Century, the Society was granted its Royal Charter. After this, Winifred began to chair its Annual Meetings at Westminster in London.
A focus of the campaigning group was its determination to end the vast global trade in wild bird feathers in fashion and military regalia. But it had many other aims. The over-exploitation of wild birds took many forms, and the need for better regulation to stop the mass slaughter and abuse had many targets.
Left and right: Peafowl and Other Birds in an Ornamental Garden, c. 1690, by Melchior d’Hondecoeter (1636-1695). Photograph courtesy of Jules Lister
Laws to restrict the import of bird skins and plumage into Britain were finally in place by 1922. It had taken three decades of determined campaigning. The success of the plumage campaign might have been a moment for Duchess Winifred to step aside, but she evidently loved the role: she was only halfway there. She served for another 32 years, through the difficult inter-war decades and another world war. All the while, she was active in many other welfare campaigns, for people and animals.
Duchess Winifred passed away in 1954. She lived just long enough to witness the creation of the Wild Birds Protection Act, which put in place new and much-needed protections. It aimed to prevent further loss of species. It also laid the foundations for the recovery of many species that the British Isles had already lost.
Appreciating Winifred’s Legacy
I feel a strong sense of gratitude to the Duchess and her colleagues for their pioneering conservation work, that lives on to this day. I was led to a better understanding of their characters and contribution through my research into the life and letters of W. H. Hudson. He was the only man in the room when the intrepid women led by Eliza Phillips first met in London to form what he called ‘The Bird Society’.
The group merged with their Manchester counterpart, being convened at the same time by Emily Williamson. We know it today as the RSPB, with over a million members. Today’s wild bird conservationists stand on the shoulders of giants; none more so than Duchess Winifred, their noble figurehead for more than 60 years.
