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Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Birth9 Jun 1735
Death22 Aug 1805
General4th earl. Master of horse to P. of Wales.
Notes for George Villiers Earl of Jersey
Has issue: 2s and 7 daus. and the line continues to this day.
DNB Main notes for George Villiers Earl of Jersey
Villiers, George Bussy, fourth Earl of Jersey and seventh Viscount Grandison 1735-1805

Name: Villiers, George Bussy
Title: fourth Earl of Jersey and seventh Viscount Grandison
Dates: 1735-1805
Active Date: 1775
Gender: Male

Spouse
: Frances (1753-1821), only daughter of Philip Twysden
Likenesses: 1...,   2...
Sources: G. E. C[okayne]'s Peerage; Horace Walpole's Corresp...
Contributor:
H. E. M. [Herbert Eustace Maxwell]

Article
Villiers, George Bussy, fourth Earl of Jersey and seventh Viscount Grandison 1735-1805, born on 9 June 1735, was the only surviving son of William, third earl, by his wife Anne, daughter of Scroop Egerton, first duke of Bridgewater, and widow of Wriothesley Russell, third duke of Bedford. Edward Villiers, first earl of Jersey [q.v.], was his great-grandfather. In boyhood his tutor was William Whitehead [q.v.], the poet laureate. Returned to parliament for Tamworth on 28 June 1756, he was appointed a lord of the admiralty in 1761, and vice-chamberlain of the household in 1765, and, having thus vacated his seat at Tamworth, was elected for Aldborough in Yorkshire. On 18 March 1768 he was returned for Dover, a seat which he retained till his succession to the earldom on 28 Aug. 1769. Jersey also held the offices of extra lord of the bedchamber (1769-77), master of the buckhounds (1782-1783), and captain of the gentlemen pensioners (1783-90). Subsequently he became lord of the bedchamber and master of the horse to the Prince of Wales. He died on 22 Aug. 1805, being chiefly noted for his courtly manners. Mrs. Montague refers to him as `the Prince of Maccaronies.' In March 1770 he was married to Frances (1753-1821), only daughter of Philip Twysden, bishop of Raphoe [see under Twysden, Sir Roger]. By her he had two sons and seven daughters. His eldest son, George Child-Villiers [q.v.], fifth earl, is separately noticed.
There is a portrait of the fourth earl as a child with his mother (full-lengths) at Middleton Park, painted by Hudson; also one of him as a man (three-quarter, seated) by Dance; and a head, painted by Hoppner, of his beautiful countess, whose relations with George IV have been investigated with more industry than accuracy by Robert Huish, Hannibal Evans Lloyd, and other chroniclers of the gossip of the period. There is a beautiful mezzotint by Thomas Watson of a portrait of the countess by Daniel Gardner.

Sources
G. E. C[okayne]'s Peerage; Horace Walpole's Corresp. passim; Official Returns of Mem. Parl.; private papers at Middleton.

Contributor: H. E. M.

published  1899
Last Modified 22 Aug 2007Created 14 May 2022 by Tim Powys-Lybbe
Re-created by Tim Powys-Lybbe on 14 May 20220