George Herbert Hyde Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon (7 June 1877 – 13 December 1955), styled Lord Hyde from 1877 to 1914, was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician from 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 served as

Governor-General of the Union of South Africa The governor-general of the Union of South Africa (; ) was the highest state official in the Union of South Africa between 1910 and 1961. The Union of South Africa was founded as a self-governing Dominion of the British Empire in 1910 and the o ...

from 1931 to 1937.

Background

Clarendon was the only son of Edward Hyde Villiers, 5th Earl of Clarendon and his wife Lady Caroline Elizabeth Agar, daughter of James Agar, 3rd Earl of Normanton. George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon, three times Foreign Secretary, was his grandfather.

Political career

Lord Hyde was in November 1902 appointed an extra aide-de-camp to the Earl of Dudley,

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

. Clarendon took his seat on the Conservative benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on his father's death in 1914. When

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law (; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadi ...

became Prime Minister in 1922 he appointed Clarendon

Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(government chief whip in the House of Lords), a position he also held under

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...

until January 1924, and again from December 1924 to 1925. He then served as the first Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs until 1927. In 1931 Clarendon was appointed

Governor-General of South Africa The governor-general of the Union of South Africa (; ) was the highest state official in the Union of South Africa between 1910 and 1961. The Union of South Africa was founded as a self-governing Dominion of the British Empire in 1910 and the o ...

, in which position he remained until 1937. During his tenure as Governor-General of South Africa, he also served as Chief Scout of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Clarendon High School for Girls Clarendon High School for Girls is a Private school, private South African English, English medium high school for girls situated in the suburb of Selborne of East London, Eastern Cape, East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa ...

and its associated schools, Clarendon Primary School and Clarendon Preparatory School in

East London, South Africa East London (; ) is a city on the southeastern coast of South Africa, in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa, Province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River ( ...

are named after him. Clarendon became

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 ...

in 1938 and served until the death of King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

in 1952. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1931 and made a Knight Companion of the Garter in 1937.

Family

Lord Clarendon married Adeline Verena Ishbel Cocks, daughter of Herbert Haldane Somers Cocks, in 1905. They had three children: * George Villiers, Lord Hyde, killed in a shooting accident in South Africa in 1935, leaving a son George Frederick Laurence and a posthumous daughter, Rosemary. * (Nina) Joan Villiers, Lady Newman * (William) Nicholas Villiers. He died in December 1955, aged 78. His eldest son George Villiers, Lord Hyde, had been killed in a shooting accident in 1935; the earldom was inherited by George's son

Laurence Laurence is in modern use as an English masculine and a French feminine given name. The modern English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from Laurentum" ...

Honours

* He was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on 28 July 1924. * UK Order St-Michael St-George ribbon

He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George on 2 December 1930, which would normally allow him the Title "

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

" but this was outranked by his peerage so was not used. It gave him the Post Nominal Letters "GCMG" for life. * He was sworn in as a member of

His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1931. This allowed him the Honorific Title "

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...

" and the Post Nominal Letters "PC" for life. * Order of the Garter UK ribbon

He was made a

Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, it is outranked in precedence only by the decorations of the Victoria Cr ...

in 1937 by HM King George VI, which would normally allow him the Title "

" but this was outranked by his peerage so was not used. It gave him the Post Nominal Letters "KG" for life. * UK Royal Victorian Order ribbon

He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Royal Victorian Order on 8 June 1939 by HM King George VI, which would normally allow him the Title "

" but this was outranked by his peerage so was not used. It gave him the Post Nominal Letters "GCVO" for life. He also served as Chancellor of the Order from 1938-1952. * He was made a Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St John on 18 June 1940. Within the Order this allowed him the post nominal letters "GCStJ" for life. He also served as Prior of the Order from 1943–1946. * Royal Victorian Chain Ribbon

He was awarded the

Royal Victorian Chain The Royal Victorian Chain is a State decoration, decoration instituted in 1902 by King Edward VII as a personal award of the monarch (i.e. not an award made on the advice of any Commonwealth realm government). It ranks above the Royal Victorian Or ...

on 21 October 1952. by HM Queen Elizabeth II. * He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. This gave him the Post Nominal Letters "DL" for life.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarendon, George Villiers, 6th Earl Of 1877 births 1955 deaths Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John Chairmen of the BBC Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Deputy lieutenants of Hertfordshire 6 Governors-general of South Africa Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Knights of the Garter Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Permanent Lords-in-Waiting Scouting and Guiding in South Africa George Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon Villiers, George Presidents of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science