2009 Celebrity Death Pool Board

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, 92.

Maybe she wasn't on anyone's list, but this is an excellent obituary:

Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, who died on December 21 aged 92, was one of the richest landowners in Britain.

Had she been a boy, she would have succeeded her father as 8th Duke of Portland. He had no male heirs, which meant that the dukedom passed to a distant relative and eventually died out. But owing to a legal arrangement by her grandfather, the 6th Duke, Lady Anne inherited the family fortune, estimated at more than £150 million.

A formidable figure and a keen supporter of the Turf, she was involved in many charities and was a redoubtable custodian of her inheritance.

Alexandra Margaret Anne Cavendish-Bentinck was born on September 16 1916, the elder of two daughters of the 7th Duke of Portland, KG, and his wife, Ivy Gordon-Lennox, a maid of honour to Queen Alexandra and the only daughter of Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox, son of the 6th Duke of Richmond and Gordon.

The Dukes of Portland were originally a Dutch family. Hans Willem Bentinck came over from Holland with William of Orange in 1670 and later became the 1st Earl of Portland. He was granted considerable lands in Britain. By 1883 the family owned 43,000 acres in Nottinghamshire, including Welbeck Abbey, and further land in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Worcestershire, Northumberland and Buckinghamshire. They also had 118,000 acres in Scotland, including the Braemore and Langwell estates in Caithness, as well as considerable real estate in central London, with the proof in street names such as Bentinck Street, Portland Place, Harley Street and Welbeck Street.

Lady Anne still owned 17,000 acres in Nottinghamshire and 62,000 acres in Scotland.

Her grandfather, the 6th Duke, a younger half-brother of the Countess of Strathmore (mother of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother), had not been in direct line for the dukedom. He succeeded his eccentric second cousin, who had a horror of being seen and so supervised the digging of a network of underground passages and rooms at Welbeck – these included a tunnel 1¼ miles long, and wide enough for two carriages to pass.

He hid in a few interlocking rooms in the west wing, with a trap door giving him access to his network of tunnels, which was at times worked on by more than 1,500 men.

The 7th Duke, Lady Anne's father, was known as "Chopper" for having built himself a wooden house to live in at Welbeck. He had no sons, but while the title went to a distant relative, a discretionary trust set up by her grandfather meant that the ducal fortune passed to Lady Anne.

It is said that when she was a debutante she refused the hand of Prince Charles of the Belgians, later briefly Prince Regent of Belgium, by remaining in bed when he arrived to pay his suit. It has also been said that when she wished to marry the 11th Duke of Leeds and her family refused to permit the union, she vowed never to marry anyone else. Indeed, she never did marry.

Besides being custodian of a considerable art collection, including works by Stubbs and Van Dyck and the celebrated Sargent portrait of her grandmother, Duchess Winifred, Lady Anne was a keen supporter of numerous charities, supporting causes for the blind and the Girl Guides. "We have allowed the Guides a permanent camp at Welbeck – much to the annoyance of the keepers," she said.

Famously haughty, she loved racing and was a dedicated horsewoman who still rode at 90. In the summer of 2000, she went over to the Castle of Mey for tea with her centenarian neighbour and cousin, the Queen Mother, who said after the visit: "She's very gruff. I've known her since she was a little girl. She was gruff then and she's gruff now."

[Happy Worker Bee]

No one had famous Skinflint Carl Pohlad?

Dead as the doornail he wanted hammered at 18 inch intervals instead of 12 inch.

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by Happy Worker Bee

No one had famous Skinflint Carl Pohlad?

Dead as the doornail he wanted hammered at 18 inch intervals instead of 12 inch.

I'd have been the most likely, but he didn't seem like a celebrity, even here in Minnesota where he was alternately lauded and loathed depending on whether he was threatening to move the Twins out of state or not.

[Atticus Grinch]

Motherfuck. And the hits just keep on comin'.

[tmdiva]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, 92.

Maybe she wasn't on anyone's list, but this is an excellent obituary:

That is awesome. I wonder what the problem was with the 11th Duke of Leeds? Just going by his title, one would think he would have been perfectly suitable.

tm

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

Motherfuck. And the hits just keep on comin'.

Some people would kill for 2+ years from diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Some people would kill for 2+ years from diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

No kidding. 1 year is already beating the odds. Two more? Probably only if they somehow stop it.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by tmdiva

That is awesome. I wonder what the problem was with the 11th Duke of Leeds? Just going by his title, one would think he would have been perfectly suitable.

tm

I'm somewhat more intrigued by her second cousin twice removed. Tunnels and a trap door? Pretty sweet.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally Posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)

I'm somewhat more intrigued by her second cousin twice removed. Tunnels and a trap door? Pretty sweet.

If Sidd could trick a bunch of Girl Scouts to camp on his property, you'd better believe there will be tunnels and a trap door involved.

[LessinSF]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Some people would kill for 2+ years from diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Some people appear to have based most of their lists on the implicit assumption in your post.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.c...uitar-pio.html

It barely bears repeating, but this guy put out of some of the best riffs in rock history. I even dug The Weirdness.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally Posted by lessinsf

some people appear to have based most of their lists on the implicit assumption in your post.

nttawwt?

[LessinSF]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

nttawwt?

It's just so trite to go the easy pancreatic cancer route. Wishing death upon others should have a greater theme than mere actuarial analysis. For example, I actively desire everyone on my list to kick it in a painful, lingering manner.

[LessinSF]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.c...uitar-pio.html

It barely bears repeating, but this guy put out of some of the best riffs in rock history. I even dug The Weirdness.

You, me, Slave, and Ollie weep. Flower is too cool. The rest are busy youtubing to hear their first Stooges song.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by LessinSF

You, me, Slave, and Ollie weep. Flower is too cool. The rest are busy youtubing to hear their first Stooges song.

I owned Stooges records when you was still sucking at your mama's titty.