The Earl of Clarendon | |
|---|---|
 "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 (aged 68) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal Unionist |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Lady Caroline Agar (d. 1894) (2) Emma Hatch |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon Lady Katherine Grimston |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
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Edward Hyde Villiers, 5th Earl of Clarendon, GCB, GCVO, TD, 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.
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.[1]
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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 joined the Hertfordshire Yeomanry as a Troop Quartermaster in 1868, and was commissioned as a Cornet the following year. He was promoted captain in 1872 and to command the regiment in 1879 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was the regiment's longest-serving commanding officer, continuing in the position until 1901 and afterwards becoming its Honorary Colonel in 1908.[2][3] He was also Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire from 1893 to 1914.
Clarendon made one known appearance in first-class cricket for Cambridge University in 1865.[4] He was a right-handed batsman 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.[5]
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:
Lord Clarendon died in October 1914, aged 68, and was succeeded in the earldom by his only son George.
He owned 2,300 acres in Hertsfordshire.[6]
He was sculpted by Mary Pownall c.1900.[7]
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.[11]