William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey

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The Earl of Jersey
Earl of Jersey
In office
1721–1769
Parent
OccupationPolitician
Coat of arms of the 3rd Earl of Jersey at Middleton Stoney church, impaled with the arms of Egerton, his in-laws MiddletonStoney AllSaints MonumentVilliers Arms3.jpg
Coat of arms of the 3rd Earl of Jersey at Middleton Stoney church, impaled with the arms of Egerton, his in-laws
Portrait of Anne by Godfrey Kneller Anne Egerton.jpg
Portrait of Anne by Godfrey Kneller

William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey, 6th Viscount Grandison, PC (died 28 August 1769) was an English peer and politician from the Villiers family.

Contents

Life

Middleton Park c. 1830 Neale(1829) p5.140 - Middleton Park, Oxfordshire.jpg
Middleton Park c. 1830

He was the son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey. [1] Among other achievements, Villiers was a founding Governor of the Foundling Hospital, a charity which received its royal charter on 17 October 1739 to operate an orphanage for abandoned children in London.

He was an infatuated admirer of Ann Thicknesse (aka Anne Ford) and he offered her £800 a year to be his mistress. When she refused, Lord Jersey tried to sabotage her initial public concert, but she earned £15 from it nonetheless. In 1761, she published a pamphlet, A Letter from Miss F—d to a Person of Distinction, defending her position. [2] This in turn provoked a pamphlet from the Earl, A Letter to Miss F–d. [3]

Private life

On 23 June 1733, he married Anne Russell, Dowager Duchess of Bedford (c. 1704/1709 – 1762). She was the daughter of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, and widow of Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford. They had two sons, but only one survived them:

He commissioned the building of the previous Middleton Park, in Middleton Stoney, Oxfordshire.

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References

  1. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Page 2096.
  2. Thicknesse, Ann (1761). A letter from Miss F--d, addressed to a person of distinction. With a new ballad to an old tune. Sent to the author by an unknown hand. 1761. Internet Archive.
  3. Jersey, William Villiers (1761). A letter to Miss F--d. 1761. Internet Archive.
Legal offices
Preceded by Justice in Eyre
south of the Trent

1740 1746
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Earl of Jersey
1721 1769
Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Viscount Grandison
1st creation
1766 1769
Succeeded by