George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, PC (9 June 173522 August 1805,

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

) was an English nobleman, peer, politician and

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

at the court of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He was the oldest surviving son of

William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey, 6th Viscount Grandison, (died 28 August 1769) was an English peer and politician from the Villiers family. Life He was the son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's P ...

, and his wife, the former Lady Anne Egerton, the daughter of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, and widow of

Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford (25 May 1708 – 23 October 1732) was an English nobleman and peer. He was the son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford. Russell married his sister's stepdaughter, Lady Anne Egerton, daughter of ...

Parliament

Between 1756 and his father's death in 1769, which took him into the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, he served continuously in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

as MP for, in turn, Tamworth in Staffordshire, Aldborough in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

in Kent. He followed the political lead of the

Duke of Grafton Duke of Grafton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1675 by Charles II of England for Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke ...

in both the Commons and Lords. He was a

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was n ...

from 1761 to 1763 and was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 11 July 1765 and served as Vice-Chamberlain from 1765 to 1769. On his elevation to the peerage in 1769, he was made a

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

to George III (1769–1777) and served as

Master of the Buckhounds The Master of the Buckhounds (or Master of the Hounds) was an officer in the Master of the Horse's department of the British Royal Household. The holder was also His/Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot. The role was to oversee a hunting pack; a ...

(1782–1783) and in other court posts until 1800. Because of his courtly manners was called the "Prince of Maccaronies." He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1787.

Family

Lord Jersey married

Frances Twysden Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey (''née'' Twysden; 25 February 1753 – 23 July 1821) was a British Lady of the Bedchamber, one of the more notorious of the many mistresses of King George IV when he was Prince of Wales, "a scintillating ...

at her

stepfather A stepfather or stepdad is a non-biological male parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepfather-in-law is a stepfather of one's spouse. Children from his spouse's previous unions are known as his stepchildren. Culture Though less com ...

's house in the parish of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

on 26 March 1770. Lady Jersey, who was seventeen years younger than her husband, became one of the more notorious mistresses of

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

in 1793, when he was still

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. She was 40 years old at the time and more than once a grandmother. Lord and Lady Jersey had ten children: *Lady Charlotte Anne Villiers (1771–1808), married

Lord William Russell Lord William Russell (20 August 1767 – 5 May 1840) was a member of the British aristocratic Russell family and longtime Member of Parliament. He did little to attract public attention after the end of his political career until, in 1840, he was ...

in 1789, and had issue. *Lady Anne Barbara Frances Villiers (1772–1832), married

William Henry Lambton William Henry Lambton (1764–1797) was a British member of Parliament (MP) who represented the City of Durham in the House of Commons. He was the son of Major-General John Lambton, who preceded him as the MP for Durham, and the brother of Ra ...

and had issue, including

John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, (12 April 1792 – 28 July 1840), also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in Canadian history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor G ...

; married secondly Hon. Charles Wyndham, son of Charles, 2nd Earl of Egremont. *

George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, GCH, PC (19 August 1773 – 3 October 1859), previously George Villiers and styled Viscount Villiers until 1805, was a British courtier and Conservative politician from the Villiers family. He added ...

(1773–1859), married Sarah Sophia Fane daughter of

John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, (1 June 175915 December 1841), styled Lord Burghersh between 1771 and 1774, was a British Tory (political faction), Tory politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, who served in most of the cabine ...

, and Sarah Anne Child, only child of Robert Child, the principal shareholder in the banking firm Child & Co. * Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers (1774–1835), married firstly

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member ...

, and had issue. She divorced him in the Scottish courts in 1809 and married secondly

George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll George William Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll, (22 September 1768 – 22 October 1839), styled Earl of Campbell from 1768 to 1770 and Marquess of Lorne from 1770 to 1806, was a Scottish Whig politician and nobleman. Background Argyll was the el ...

. *Lady Georgiana Villiers, died young. *Lady Sarah Villiers (born 1779), married Charles Nathaniel Bayley in 1799. *Hon. William Augustus Henry Villiers (1780–1813), died unmarried in America, having assumed the surname of Mansel in 1802, pursuant to the will of Louisa Barbara, Baroness Vernon. *Lady Elizabeth Villiers, died unmarried 1810. *Lady Frances Elizabeth Villiers (1786–1866), married

John Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Ponsonby John Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Ponsonby, GCB (c. 1770 – 22 February 1855) was a longtime British diplomat and politician. He was considered an exceptionally handsome man – reportedly he was almost lynched as an aristocrat in a Paris street by ...

, in 1803. *Lady Harriet Villiers (1788–1870), married Richard Bagot,

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his electio ...

, in 1806, and had issue.

Ancestry

References

External links

*
Prints associated with George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, at the British Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jersey, George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey 1735 births 1805 deaths 18th-century English nobility 19th-century English nobility 4 Villiers, George British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Earls in the Jacobite peerage Masters of the Buckhounds George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Lords of the Admiralty Viscounts Grandison