Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon


Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon, styled Lord Norreys until 1799, was an English peer.

Background

Bertie was the third son of Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon and Charlotte Warren, a daughter of Peter Warren and a descendant of the Schuyler family, the Van Cortlandt family, and the Delancey family of British North America. As his two elder brothers predeceased their father, on the latter's death on 26 September 1799 he succeeded him as 5th Earl of Abingdon. His father died insolvent, having sold off much of the estates at Westbury, Wiltshire, but he retained control of the burgages and hence the disposal of the Parliamentary seats for Westbury. The 4th Earl had sold the nomination of members there since 1786 to raise money; his trustees and successor continued the practice until 1810, when he sold the manor and control of the seats to Sir Manasseh Lopes.

Public life

Lord Abingdon was awarded a DCL by Oxford University on 3 July 1810. He was Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire between 1826 and 1854 and High Steward of Abingdon. In 1836, he bought the manor of North Weston, now in Great Haseley but then in Thame where he also owned the manor of that name.

Family

Lord Abingdon's first wife was Emily Gage, daughter of General the Honourable Thomas Gage and Margaret Kemble, 27 August 1807, and a distant cousin with common ancestry to the Schuyler family and Van Cortlandt families of British North America. They lived at Wytham Abbey in Berkshire and had eight children:
Abingdon's second wife was Lady Frederica Augusta Kerr, daughter of Vice-Admiral Lord Mark Robert Kerr and Charlotte MacDonnell, 3rd Countess of Antrim, whom he married on 11 March 1841.