suc. fa. 3 Apr. 1630 (a minor) as 2nd earl of ANGLESEY
First sat 15 June 1660; last sat 5 July 1660
b. c. 1627, s. of Christopher (Kit) Villiers†, earl of Anglesey, and Elizabeth (d. 12 Apr. 1662), da. of Thomas Sheldon of Howby, Leics. educ. Eton 1642; Peterhouse, Camb. admitted 13 Dec. 1644, aged 15; travelled abroad 1647.1 m. 25 Apr. 1648, Mary (d. Jan. 1672),2 3rd da. of Paul Bayning†, Visct. Bayning, wid. of William Villiers, 2nd Visct. Grandison [I], s.p. bur. 4 Feb. 1661 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Mdx.; will none found.
Associated with: Ashley Park, Walton-on-Thames, Surr.
Villiers’s father was a younger brother of George Villiers†, duke of Buckingham, and as such an influential courtier at the early Stuart court. The date of his birth is unclear: his university matriculation suggests 1629, whereas his marriage licence suggests 1626/7. Anglesey was thus a very young child when he succeeded to the peerage and was unable to take his seat in the pre-Restoration House of Lords. On 26 Jan. 1647 he was given leave by the Lords to travel abroad with three servants.
At the Restoration, Anglesey was in a prime position to benefit from his connections at court. His cousin George Villiers 2nd duke of Buckingham, was a close friend of the king. Moreover, Anglesey’s wife was the mother, by her first marriage, of Barbara Villiers, countess of Castlemaine (later duchess of Cleveland), a favourite mistress of Charles II. Anglesey took his seat in the Lords on 15 June 1660 but attended only one other sitting of the House, on 5 July. He died of smallpox and was buried on 4 Feb. 1661 at St Martin-in-the-Fields.3 As he died without issue, his peerage became extinct; it was revived on 20 Apr. 1661 for Arthur Annesley earl of Anglesey.
A.C./S.N.H.