Iconic collector. Friend to the royals. Adored wife. Intellectual. Join us for this museum talk to discover the life of Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck: Duchess of Portland and one of the richest women of her time.
Born to a family who actively encouraged her studies, Margaret grew up around poets, patrons and big thinkers. Her collecting started soon after she married, and her home at Bulstrode Park quickly became an ‘epicentre of learning’ – with sieves and other collecting tools piled so high it was often hard to find a seat. Plants and specimens sourced from Captain Cook’s voyage around the world only served to add to the collection.
When Margaret died, her ‘Portland Museum’ was sold off in a sale that lasted 39 days and raised the equivalent of £1 million in today’s money. Some of the items were bought back by her children, and are now on display in our exhibition The World’s Mine Oyster: Art, Nature and Collecting the Globe. This talk will explore her life and love of collecting, right in front of the objects about which she was so passionate.
Georgia Nicole Newton
Georgia Nicole Newton is a postgraduate Historian undertaking a Masters by Research with the University of Lincoln. Having grown up in Worksop, she has always felt a connection to the heritage, and in particular, the historical women of Welbeck, dedicating her research to recovering the legacies of eighteenth-century women. In 2025, Georgia undertook a research placement with Welbeck Abbey’s curatorial department, researching and writing about Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland.
