No literary sketch of the great House of Portland would be
complete without it summarised the salient points in the Druce claims as
they have appeared from time to time in newspaper reports and in the
narratives of those who knew the fifth Duke in his lifetime. This
compilation is intended to epitomise the history of the illustrious
family of Bentinck in consecutive order of the events as they have
occurred, in such a manner as is not found in any other publication; but
in no way to influence opinion either on one side or the other. It was
in 1898 that public attention was called to the case, when Mrs. Druce
set up a claim to the Portland peerage on behalf of her son.
The ground on which it was based was that her father-in-law, Mr. Thomas
Charles Druce, and the fifth Duke of Portland were one and the same
person; that in fact the Duke had a double existence.
Mr. Druce was in a large way of business at the Baker-street Bazaar, an
enterprise opened about 1834 or 1835, with a capital estimated at
100,000l. At that time the Duke had not succeeded to his family
estates, but was Marquis of Titchfield.
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