George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey

George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, PC (9 June 1735  22 August 1805, Tunbridge Wells) was an English nobleman, peer, politician and courtier at the court of George III.

Middleton Park, Oxfordshire - seat of the Earls of Jersey, c. 1830

Arms of the 4th Earl of Jersey in 1790

He was the oldest surviving son of William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey, 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.

Parliament

Between 1756 and his father's death in 1769, which took him into the House of Lords, he served continuously in the House of Commons as MP for, in turn, Tamworth in Staffordshire, Aldborough in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Dover in Kent. He followed the political lead of the Duke of Grafton in both the Commons and Lords. He was a Lord of the Admiralty from 1761 to 1763 and was sworn of the Privy Council 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 to George III (1769–1777) and served as Master of the Buckhounds (1782–1783) and in other court posts until 1800. Because of his courtly manners was called the "Prince of Maccaronies."[1]

He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1787.

Family

Lord Jersey married Frances Twysden at her stepfather's house in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields on 26 March 1770. Lady Jersey, who was seventeen years younger than her husband, became one of the more notorious mistresses of George IV in 1793, when he was still Prince of Wales. She was 40 years' old at the time and more than once a grandmother.

Lord and Lady Jersey had ten children:

References

  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Jersey, Earls of" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 330.
Political offices
Preceded by
Lord William Finch
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
1765–1769
Succeeded by
Hon. Thomas Robinson
Preceded by
The Viscount Bateman
Master of the Buckhounds
1782–1783
Succeeded by
Viscount Hinchingbrooke
Preceded by
Lord Townshend
Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners
1783
Succeeded by
Lord Townshend
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Thomas Villiers
Sir Robert Burdett, Bt
Member of Parliament for Tamworth
1756–1765
With: Sir Robert Burdett, Bt
Succeeded by
Sir Robert Burdett, Bt
Edward Thurlow
Preceded by
Andrew Wilkinson
Nathaniel Cholmley
Member of Parliament for Aldborough
1765–1768
With: Nathaniel Cholmley
Succeeded by
Andrew Wilkinson
Hon. Aubrey Beauclerk
Preceded by
Sir Joseph Yorke
John Bindley
Member of Parliament for Dover
1768–1769
With: Sir Joseph Yorke
Succeeded by
Sir Joseph Yorke
Sir Thomas Pym Hales
Peerage of England
Preceded by
William Villiers
Earl of Jersey
1769–1805
Succeeded by
George Child Villiers
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
George Villiers
Viscount Grandison
1805–1859
Succeeded by
George Child Villiers
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