Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey (165625 August 1711) was an English peer, diplomat, courtier, and statesman of the

Villiers family Villiers ( ) is an Nobility, aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. Over time, various members of the Villiers family were made knights, baronets, and peers. Peerages held by the Villiers family include the dukedoms of Duke of Buckingham, Bucki ...

. He was created

Baron Villiers Baron is a rank of nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive ...

and

Viscount Villiers A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is so ...

in 1691 and Earl of Jersey in 1697. A leading

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician opposed to the

Whig Junto The Whig Junto is the name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party and often the government, during the reigns of William III and Anne. The Whig Junto proper consisted of John Somers, later ...

, he was made Southern Secretary in 1699.

Family and early life

He was the son of Sir Edward Villiers (1620–1689) of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, Surrey, by his wife Frances Howard, the youngest daughter of

Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, (13 August 15843 June 1640) was an England, English nobleman and politician. Career Born at the family estate of Saffron Walden, he was the son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, by his second wife, ...

, and Elizabeth Home. His grandfather was Sir Edward Villiers (c. 1585–1626),

Master of the Mint Master of the Mint is a title within the Royal Mint given to the most senior person responsible for its operation. It was an office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain and then the United Kingdom, between the 16th ...

and

Lord President of Munster The post of Lord President of Munster was the most important office in the English government of the Irish province of Munster from its introduction in the Elizabethan era for a century, to 1672, a period including the Desmond Rebellions in Munste ...

, who was half brother of

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...

and of

Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey ( – 3 April 1630), known at court as Kit Villiers, was an English courtier, Gentleman of the Bedchamber and later Master of the Robes to King James I. In 1623 he was ennobled as Earl of Anglesey and ...

. His sister was

Elizabeth Villiers Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Orkney (''née'' Villiers; 165719 April 1733) was an English courtier from the Villiers family and the reputed mistress of William III, King of England and Scotland, from 1680 until 1695. She was a lady-in-waitin ...

, the reputed mistress of King William III, who was later Countess of Orkney as the wife of

George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, (9 February 1666 – 29 January 1737), styled Lord George Hamilton from 1666 to 1696, was a British army officer and the first officer of the British Army to be ...

. He was admitted to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in 1671 and took his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1672.

Career

Following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

of 1688, Villiers was appointed

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse () in the Roman Rep ...

to Queen

Mary II Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...

, and in June 1689 he succeeded his father as Knight Marshal to the royal household. On 20 March 1691 he was elevated to the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. From that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were closed to new creations, and new peers were created in a single Peerag ...

as Viscount Villiers of Dartford and Baron Villiers of Hoo, in part owing to the influence of his sister, Elizabeth. In 1695, he was sent as a diplomat to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

, representing his country at the Congress of Ryswick in 1686, and on 25 May 1697 he was appointed one of the

Lords Justices of Ireland The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch ...

, although he rarely visited that country subsequently. The same year, on 13 October he was made Earl of Jersey and English ambassador at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. In 1698 he became the English ambassador in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. After returning to England in 1699, was made

Secretary of State for the Southern Department The secretary of state for the Southern Department was a position in the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department (Great Britain), Southern Department became the H ...

, and on three occasions he was one of the Lords Justices of England. In June 1700, he was appointed

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

by King William, an office he continued to hold after the accession of Queen Anne in 1702. The same year he received an honorary degree from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1701, he persuaded the young writer and diplomat Matthew Prior to abandon his former Whig allies and vote for the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

of his fellow Kit Cat Club member and patron

Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as the Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and the Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He h ...

. Jersey replaced Halifax as Prior's patron. In 1704, he was dismissed from office by Queen Anne after objecting to the foreign policy initiatives of

Lord Godolphin Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, (15 June 1645 – 15 September 1712) was a British Tory statesman. He was a Privy Councillor and Secretary of State for the Northern Department before he attained real power as First Lord of the T ...

. After his dismissal, Lord Jersey was activity involved in Jacobite schemes, using his wife, who was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, as a useful go-between. Despite this, shortly before his death he had been nominated to attend the Congress of Utrecht by the British government. In 1711 the Queen was reluctantly persuaded to bring him back into the Cabinet as

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

, but he died immediately afterwards. He died on 25 August 1711, the day of his investiture, of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

. The Scottish spy,

John Macky John Macky (died 1726) was a Scottish spy and travel writer. Between 1688 and 1710 he ran a successful intelligence gathering network across the English Channel, principally concerned with Jacobite and French threats to England. He was also the a ...

, observed that Lord Jersey was "a man of weak capacity uthe makes a very good figure in his person, being tall, well-shaped, handsome, and dresses clean".

Marriage and children

On 17 December 1681 he married Barbara Chiffinch (1663before 13 December 1735), only daughter of

William Chiffinch William Chiffinch (died November 1691) was an English royal page and politician. He was described by Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth as "a time-server and libertine, wasteful, unscrupulous, open to bribery and flattery". Biography Chiffinch followed hi ...

(1602–1691), Keeper of the Privy Closet and a confidant of King Charles II, and his wife Barbara Nunn. By her he had two sons and a daughter: * William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey (c. 168213 July 1721); through him they are ancestors of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

, and of her sons,

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his pat ...

and

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to t ...

. *Henry Villiers (died 1743) *Mary Villiers (died 17 Jan 1734/35), who married twice: **Firstly to Thomas Thynne (died 1710) son of Henry Frederick Thynne and Dorothy Philips, to whom she bore a son:

Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth (21 May 1710 – 1751) of Longleat House in Wiltshire was an English peer, descended from Sir John Thynne (c.1515-1580) builder of Longleat. Origins He was born on 21 May 1710, the son of Thomas Thynne (d.1 ...

. **Secondly in 1711 she married

George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne PC (9 March 1666 – 29 January 1735), of Stowe, Cornwall, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 until 1712, when he was raised to the peerage as Baro ...

(1666–1735), without sons. After Lord Jersey's death, his Jacobite-supporting widow took her younger son Henry to France, for the express purpose of having him raised in the Roman Catholic faith, to which she strongly adhered. This caused something of a scandal, as Henry was a minor and a royal

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. Barbara was created ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' Countess of Jersey in the

Jacobite peerage The Jacobite peerage includes those peerages created by James II and VII, and the subsequent Jacobite pretenders, after James's deposition from the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. These creati ...

by the exiled Pretender,

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...

, in 1716.

References

Bibliography

* Field, Ophelia. ''The Kit-Cat Club: Friends Who Imagined a Nation''. HarperCollins 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jersey, Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of 1656 births 1711 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Secretaries of state for the Southern Department 1 Ambassadors of England to France Diplomatic peers Edward Villiers, 01st Earl of Jersey English Jacobites Ambassadors of England to the Dutch Republic 17th-century English diplomats Peers of England created by William III Tory (British political party) politicians