George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was an English courtier. He was born in 1592 and died in 1628 being stabbed to death by John Felton. He was the son of George Villiers, a knight. At eighteen he was sent to France, where he resided three years, and on his return made so great an impression on James I that in two years he was made a knight, a gentleman of the bed-chamber, baron, viscount. Marquis of Buckingham, lord high-admiral, etc, and at last dispenser of all the honours and offices of the three kingdoms.
In 1623, when the Earl of Bristol was negotiating a marriage for Prince Charles with the Infanta of Spain, the Marquis of Buckingham went with the prince incognito to Madrid to carry on the suit in person in the hope of securing the Palatinate as dowry. The result, however, was the breaking off of the marriage, and the declaration of war with Spain. During his absence the Marquis of Buckingham was created duke.
After the death of James I in 1625 he was sent to France as proxy for Charles I to marry the PrincessHenrietta Maria. In 1626, after the failure of the Cadiz expedition, he was impeached, but saved by the favour of the king. Despite the difficulty in obtaining supplies the Duke of Buckingham took upon himself the conduct of a war with France, but his expedition in aid of the Rochellese proved an entire failure. In the meantime the spirit of revolt was becoming more formidable; the Petition of Right was carried despite the duke's exertions; and he was again protected from impeachment only by the king's prorogation of parliament. He then went to Portsmouth to lead another expedition to Rochelle, but was stabbed on August the 24th, 1628, by John Felton, an ex-lieutenant who had been disappointed of promotion.
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham was an English soldier. He was born in 1627 at Westminster, London and died in 1688. The son of George Villiers he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge and served in the royal army under Rupert and then went abroad. In 1648 he returned to England, was with Charles II in Scotland and at the battle of Worcester, and afterwards served as a volunteer in the French army in Flanders.
He then returned to England, and in 1657 married the daughter of LordFairfax. At the Restoration he became master of the horse and one of the king's confidential cabal from 1667 until 1673. In 1666 he engaged in a conspiracy, and in 1676 was committed to the Tower for a contempt by order of the House of Lords; but on each occasion he recovered the king's favour. On the death of Charles II he retired to his seat in Yorkshire. Among his literary compositions the comedy of the Rehearsal (1671) takes the first place.
George William Frederick Villiers, Earl of Clarendon was an English diplomat. He was the eldest son of the Honourable George Villiers and was through his mother indirectly related to the Hydes, the family of the great Earl of Clarendon. He was educated at Cambridge, entered the civil service at an early age, and in 1820 was attached to the embassy at St Petersburg. In 1823 he was appointed to a commissionership of the excise in Dublin. In 1831 he was sent to France to negotiate a commercial treaty, and in 1833, as minister plenipotentiary at Madrid, was instrumental in negotiating the Quadruple Alliance, signed in 1834.
Having succeeded to his uncle's title in 1838 he returned home in the following year, and in January 1840 was appointed lord privy-seal, and in October chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. He supported the repeal of the corn-laws and the reduction of duties, and in 1846 was appointed president of the board of trade in Lord J. Russell's ministry, and in the following year Lord-lieutenant of Ireland. He resigned with his party in 1852, when the Earl of Derby took office, but soon after the formation of the Aberdeen ministry he was appointed to the foreign secretaryship, which he held until January 1855. After a few weeks' interval he returned to the post under LordPalmerston, and retained it until 1858, being one of the signatories of the Treaty of Paris.
In 1861 he was sent as ambassador-extraordinary to the coronation of the King of Prussia, and in 1864 was appointed chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. In the following administration, under Russell, he resumed the direction of the foreign office. He was sent in 1868 on a special mission to the pope and the King of Italy, and again occupied the post of foreign secretary in the Gladstone ministry until his death, in June, 1870. Research George Villiers
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Quadruple Alliance
