Ernest Amherst Villiers (14 November 1863 – 26 September 1923), was a British clergyman and Liberal politician. Villiers was the son of Reverend Charles Villiers of

Croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

, Yorkshire, and his wife Florence Mary (née Tyssen-Amherst). His great-grandfather, the Hon. George Villiers, was the third son of Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon. Educated at Uppingham School and

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, he was ordained as an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest. After three years as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in Halifax, he became

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Haveringland, Norfolk. Villiers married the Hon. Elaine Augusta, daughter of

Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, 2nd Baronet, DL (29 August 1835 – 22 February 1914) was a British industrialist and a member of the prominent Guest family. Early life Ivor Bertie Guest was born at Dowlais, near Merthyr Tydfil, the s ...

, in 1898. The couple had 2 sons and 2 daughters. He resigned from holy orders to pursue a political career, and was elected to the House of Commons for

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

at a by-election on 5 April 1905 caused by the appointment of one of the two members as a minister. He won the by-election by 817 votes and held the seat at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting ele ...

, increasing his majority to 853, but then chose not to contest the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

.''The Liberal Year Book for 1910'', pp.218-219 Villiers died at his residence, Speen Court, Newbury,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

in September 1923, aged 59. He was buried in the graveyard of Speen Parish Church.

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* * *http://www.stirnet.com/ (subscription only) 1863 births 1923 deaths Ernest Villiers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 People educated at Uppingham School Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge 19th-century English Anglican priests {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub