Regency Personalities Series-George Child Villiers 5th Earl of Jersey

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

George Child Villiers 5th Earl of Jersey
19 August 1773 – 3 October 1859

George Child Villiers

George Child Villiers 5th Earl of Jersey

Styled Viscount Villiers from birth, he was the son of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, by his wife Frances Twysden, daughter of the Right Reverend Philip Twysden, Bishop of Raphoe. He attended Harrow and obtained a Masters of Arts degree from St John’s College, Cambridge. He was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales in 1795.

Lord Jersey succeeded in the earldom on the death of his father in 1805 and took his seat in the House of Lords. He served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household under the Duke of Wellington in 1830 and was sworn of the Privy Council. He was Lord Chamberlain for a second time under Sir Robert Peel in 1834 to 1835. He again held office under Peel as Master of the Horse from 1841 to 1846, and again briefly under Lord Derby in 1852. He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law by the University of Oxford.

Lord Jersey married Lady Sarah Sophia Fane, daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, in 1804. She was the eldest grandchild and heiress of Robert Child, principal shareholder of the banking firm Child & Co. Lord Jersey added the surname Child to the Villiers surname by royal license in 1819. Lady Jersey was one of the great hostesses of English society, a leader of the Ton during the Regency era and the reign of George IV, and a patroness of Almack’s.

Lord Jersey was an ardent fox hunter and a breeder and trainer of horses, owning two Epsom Derby winners, in Mameluke (1827) and Bay Middleton (1836) as well as other notable thoroughbreds such as Glencoe. His wife’s numerous love affairs never troubled him: asked why he had never fought a duel in her honour, he replied that he could hardly fight every man in London.

Lord and Lady Jersey had seven children:

• George Child Villiers, 6th Earl of Jersey, married Julia Peel, daughter of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, Bt.
• The Hon. Augustus John Villiers , married Georgiana Elphinstone, daughter of George Keith Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith and Hester Maria (“Queeny”) Thrale.
• The Hon. Frederick William Child Villiers, married Elizabeth Maria van Reede, daughter of the 7th Earl of Athlone on 12 July 1842.
• The Hon. Francis John Robert Child Villiers.
• Lady Sarah Frederica Caroline Child Villiers, married Nicholas Paul (Miklós Pál), 9th Prince Esterhazy.
• Lady Clementina Augusta Wellington Child Villiers.
• Lady Adela Corisande Maria Child Villiers , married Lt.-Col. Charles Parke Ibbetson.

Lord Jersey died on 3 October 1859, aged 86, and was succeeded by his eldest son, George. The Countess of Jersey died in January 1867, aged 81.

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Regency Personalities Series-George Bussy Villiers 4th Earl of Jersey

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

George Bussy Villiers 4th Earl of Jersey
June 9 1735-August 5 1805

George Bussy (Bussey) Villiers was the 4th Earl of Jersey. (He was the grandson of the 1st Duke of Bridgewater, and great grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.) He was a courtier for King George III and a member of the Prince Regent’s set. An infamous member for he allowed his wife to become the Prince’s Mistress during the period when Prince George had left Mrs. Fitzherbert to marry Princess Caroline. Then when the Prince left Caroline he took up with Lady Jersey, Frances Twysden. During which time he knew that he was in love with Mrs. Fitzherbert and eventually returned to her.

He was the only son of the 3rd Earl to survive to adulthood, he was tutored by William Whitehead and was nicknamed, the “King of Maccaronies” because of his courtly manners and his fastidiousness in his dress.

Between 1756 and George Villiers’ father’s death in 1769 he served continuously in the House of Commons as MP for Tamworth then Aldborough and Dover in Kent. He followed the political lead of the duke of Grafton in both the Commons and Lords. (When he became the Earl in 1769 he went into the House of Lords) He was a lord of the Admiralty from 1761 to 1763 and was sworn of the privy council in 1765. George was Lord Chamberlain from 1765 to 1769, and made a gentleman of the bedchamber to George III when he became the 4th Earl.

He married Frances Twysden, in 1770. She was 17 and he was 35.

Lady Jersey

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

Lord and Lady Jersey had ten children. The eldest son, who would become the 5th Earl, married Sarah Sophia Fane who became a patroness of Almacks.

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