Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl Of Abingdon

Montagu Arthur Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon, was born on 13 May 1836 in Hanover Square, Mayfair, London. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon, and Elizabeth Lavinia (née Vernon-Harcourt). His father held the peerage from 1845 until his death in 1884, while his mother was the daughter of George Granville Vernon-Harcourt and Lady Elizabeth Bingham. His paternal grandfather was Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon, and his paternal grandmother was Emily (née Gage), daughter of General Hon. Thomas Gage. Through his great-grandmother Margaret Kemble Gage, he had ancestral roots connected to Dutch and Huguenot families, including the Schuyler, Van Cortlandt, and Delancey families of British North America.

Bertie attended Eton College in Windsor. He served as High Steward of Abingdon and was a Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire. His family history includes service to Berkshire, with his father and grandfather both having served as Lord Lieutenant of the county. Upon his father’s death in 1884, he succeeded as the 7th Earl of Abingdon and became the 11th Lord Norris.

In his military career, Bertie was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Berkshire Militia on 12 March 1858. He resigned from this position but was appointed Major in 1861 by his father, then Lord Lieutenant. He commanded the regiment, later known as the 3rd Reserve Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales (Royal Berkshire Regiment), from 31 July 1863 as Lieutenant-Colonel. He retired from active service but was appointed Honorary Colonel of the regiment on 27 October 1880. Additionally, Bertie served as a Justice of the Peace for Oxfordshire and Berkshire. He was involved in education governance, serving on the governing body of Abingdon School from 1901 to 1915.

In 1885, after the death of his brother-in-law Thomas O'Hagan, Bertie inherited the trustee position for the Towneley family at the British Museum.

He married twice. His first marriage was on 10 July 1858 to Caroline Theresa Towneley (1838–1873), daughter of Colonel Charles Towneley, Member of Parliament for Sligo, and Lady Caroline Molyneux. They resided at Wytham Abbey in Berkshire. The couple had four surviving children:

- Lady Mary Caroline Bertie (1859–1938), who married Edmund FitzAlan-Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent, on 5 August 1879.

- Captain Montagu Charles Francis Bertie, Lord Norreys (1860–1919), who married Rose Riversdale Glynn and was the father of Montagu Towneley-Bertie, 13th Earl of Lindsey.

- Lady Alice Josephine Bertie (1865–1950), who married Sir Gerald Portal and later Maj. Robert Reyntiens.

- Lady Cecil Josephine Bertie (1873–1895), who married Brigadier-General Paul Aloysius Kenna.

Following the death of his first wife in 1873, Bertie married Gwendoline Mary Dormer on 16 October 1883. She was the daughter of James Charlemagne Dormer. Their children included:

- Lady Gwendoline Theresa Mary "Goonie" Bertie (1885–1941), who married John, son of Lord Randolph Churchill.

- Maj. Hon. Arthur Michael Cosmo Bertie (1886–1957), who married Aline Rose Ramsay and later Lilian Isabel Crackanthorpe.

- Lt.-Cdr. Hon. James Willoughby Bertie (1901–1966), who married Lady Jean Crichton-Stuart.

- Lady Elizabeth Constance Mary Bertie (1895–1987), who married Major Sigismund Trafford and later Col. Henry Cartwright.

In 1911, Bertie sold his family estates at Albury and Great Haseley. He died on 10 March 1928 at Oaken Holt in Oxfordshire, aged 91. He was buried at Abingdon Abbey. His widow, Gwendoline Mary Dormer, died in 1942.

His descendants include various notable figures, such as his grandson Henry FitzAlan-Howard, 2nd Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent; his grandson Montagu Towneley-Bertie, the 13th Earl of Lindsey; and through his daughter Lady Gwendoline Bertie, the artist John Spencer-Churchill and Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, wife of Prime Minister Anthony Eden. His lineage also includes Andrew Bertie, 78th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and Charles Lyell, 3rd Baron Lyell.