Edward Villiers, 5th Earl of Clarendon

The Right Honourable The Earl of Clarendon GCB GCVO PC DL
"The Lord Chamberlain". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1901.
Lord Chamberlain of the Household
In office 21 September 1900 – 4 December 1905
Monarchs	Victoria Edward VII
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Preceded by	The Earl of Hopetoun
Succeeded by	The Viscount Althorp
Personal details
Born	11 February 1846
Died	2 October 1914 (1914-10-03) (aged 68)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Unionist
Spouse(s)	(1) Lady Caroline Agar (d. 1894) (2) Emma Hatch
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Edward Hyde Villiers, 5th Earl of Clarendon, GCB, GCVO, PC, DL (11 February 1846 – 2 October 1914), styled Lord Hyde between 1846 and 1870, was a British Liberal Unionist politician from the Villiers family. He served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household between 1900 and 1905.

Background and education

Clarendon was the second but eldest surviving son of the prominent Liberal statesman George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon and his wife Lady Katherine Grimston, daughter of James Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Political career

Portrait of Clarendon in his uniform as Lord Chamberlain, c.1902.

Clarendon was elected to Parliament for Brecon in 1869, a seat he retained until the following year, when he succeeded his father in the earldom and took his seat in the House of Lords. In 1895 he was appointed a Lord-in-waiting in the Unionist administration of Lord Salisbury, a position he held until 1900, when he was promoted to Lord Chamberlain of the Household and admitted to the Privy Council. He retained this office also when Arthur Balfour became Prime Minister in 1902. The government fell in December 1905 and Clarendon was never to return to office.

Apart from his political career Lord Clarendon was also Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire from 1893 to 1914.

Sporting career

Clarendon made one known appearance in first-class cricket for Cambridge University in 1865. He was a right-handed batsman (RHB) and a roundarm fast bowler. Four of his uncles James, Edward, Robert and Francis Grimston all played first-class cricket, as did his cousin Walter Grimston. Between 1890 and 1896, Lord Clarendon was a member of the Football Committee at West Hertfordshire Sports Club, chairing some of the meetings. During this period the club won three Herts Senior Cups in four years, not entering it in the other year. This football team was later to become known as Watford Football Club.

Family

Lord Clarendon married firstly, Lady Caroline Agar, daughter of James Agar, 3rd Earl of Normanton, on 6 September 1876. After his first wife's death in 1894 he married secondly, Emma Hatch, on 5 August 1908. By his first marriage he had two children:

• George Herbert Hyde Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon (1877–1955)
• Lady Edith Villiers (1878–1935), married Piers Edgcumbe, 5th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe

Lord Clarendon died in October 1914, aged 68, and was succeeded in the earldom by his only son George.

Artistic recognition

He was sculpted by Mary Pownall c.1900.

Honours

British honours

• GCB : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath – 24 October 1902 – announced in the 1902 Coronation Honours list on 26 June 1902, invested by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902.
• GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1905

Foreign honours

• Kingdom of Prussia: Knight 1st class of the Order of the Red Eagle – 1899 – in connection with the visit of Emperor Wilhelm II to the United Kingdom.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Clarendon
• CricketArchive record