Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, PC (1709 – 11 December 1786) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician and diplomat 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 ...

. Clarendon was the second son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey, and his wife Judith Herne, daughter of Frederick Herne.

Political career

Villiers received his education at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and then

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

. Following his graduation, he became a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. Villiers became the British envoy to both the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

and the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

from 1740 to 1747. At the time both realms were in

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

under

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as List of rulers of Saxony, Elector of Saxony i ...

. He was also sent to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, capital of the

Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria (; ) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periph ...

, as an envoy to the court of

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

from 1742 to 1743. He was last sent to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, capital of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, as an envoy to the court of

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

from 1746 to 1748. Villiers was also involved in domestic politics as a member of the

British Whig Party The Whigs were a political party in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Between the 1680s and the 1850s, the Whigs contested power with their rivals, the Tories. The Whigs became the Liberal ...

, which at the time dominated the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a ...

. He was elected to Parliament in the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Hen ...

. He sat as a Member of Parliament for Tamworth from 1747 to 1756. He retired from all diplomatic offices at this time. He was a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, one of seven members of the

Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

exercising command over the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

from 26 February 1748 to 17 November 1756. He served under First Lords of the Admiralty

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, Privy Council of Great Britain, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British politician, statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwic ...

, and

George Anson, 1st Baron Anson Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, PC, FRS (23 April 1697 – 6 June 1762) was a Royal Navy officer and politician from the Anson family. He served as a junior officer during the War of the Spanish Succession and then saw ...

throughout his term. On 3 June 1756, the barony of Hyde held by his wife's ancestors the Earls of Clarendon was revived. Villiers was raised to the peerage as Baron Hyde of Hindon in the County of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. Hyde served as

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

from 1763 to 1765. On 9 September 1763, he was admitted to the Privy Council. He also served as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...

from 1771 to 1782 and again from 1783 to 1786. On 14 June 1776 the earldom of Clarendon, which had become extinct with the death of

Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon and 2nd Earl of Rochester, Privy Council of Great Britain, PC (June 1672 – 10 December 1753), styled Lord Hyde from 1682 to 1711, was an English Army officer and Tory politician who sat in the English House of ...

in 1753, was revived and Hyde was made Earl of Clarendon. In 1782 he was also made a Baron of the

, an honour which he received Royal licence to use in

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

. Clarendon returned to the office of Postmaster-General in commission with

Henry Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret Henry Frederick Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (1735–1826), of Haynes, Bedfordshire (known until 1776 as the Honourable Henry Frederick Thynne), was Member of Parliament for Staffordshire (UK Par ...

, in September 1786. This was to be his final political assignment. Lord Clarendon died in December 1786, aged 77. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Family

On 30 March 1752 he married Charlotte Capell, daughter of William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex, and his wife Jane Hyde, daughter of

(of the 1661 creation) and Jane Leveson-Gower. They had four children: * Thomas Villiers, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (25 December 1753 – 7 March 1824). * John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (14 November 1757 – 22 December 1838).''The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760''. 7 December 1757. * George Villiers (23 November 1759 – 21 March 1827). Father of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon. *Lady Charlotte Barbara Villiers (27 March 1761 – 9 April 1810).

Robert Grimston, 1st Baron Grimston of Westbury Robert Villiers Grimston, 1st Baron Grimston of Westbury, 1st Baronet (8 June 1897 – 8 December 1979) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Life and history Grimston was the eldest son of the Rev. and Hon. Robert Gr ...

's daughter, the Hon. Rosemary Sybella Violet Grimston, married the actor Charles Edward Underdown, on the 10 February 1953. Charles Edward Underdown and Rosemary Grimston were sixth cousins, through their common ancestors Thomas Villiers, 1st. Earl of Clarendon, and

Lady Charlotte Capell Charlotte Villiers, Countess of Clarendon (2 October 1721 – 3 September 1790), formerly Lady Charlotte Capell, was the wife of Thomas Villiers, the son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey. Thomas would later be raised to the peerage a ...

, according to Burke's Peerage, (Volume 2, page 1685, 107th. edition, 2003). He bought and remodelled The Grove, a country house near Watford, Hertfordshire.

References

External links

His profile in the Peerage.com
*

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarendon, Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl Of 1709 births 1786 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster 1 Lords of the Admiralty Viliers, Thomas Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People educated at Eton College Postmasters general of the United Kingdom

Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (1709 – 11 December 1786) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British politician and diplomat from the Villiers family. Clarendon was the second son of William Villie ...

Villiers, Thomas Ambassadors of Great Britain to Poland Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Holy Roman Emperor