{18} Ruvigny Addition: Exeter Descents for George Villiers (1891-1942)

Earls of Clarendon Coat of Arms
[1st and 4th, Villiers; 2nd and 3rd Hyde]

Continuing with the Howards of Corby Castle, Sir Francis Howard (1848-1930), the younger son of diplomat Sir Henry Francis Howard of Munich and his second wife Marie Ernestine von Schulenburg, was born in Berlin, and made his career in the British Army, rising to the rank of Major-General. He made his home at Castle Godwyn, in Painswick, Gloucestershire, where he died at age 81. He married 23 April 1895, Gertrude Jane Boyd, born 27 February 1871 in New York, died 6 October 1953 at South Kensington, London. Gertrude, Lady Howard, does not have any lines back to Edward I, but nevertheless has an interesting ancestry. Her father, Hugh Conyngham Boyd of Woodside, in Torquay, Devon, was born 1826 in Newry, co. Down, Ireland, and died 18 May 1903 at Woodside. He spent many years in the United States, where he met his American wife, Mary Emmes James, born 1842 in New York, died after 1911 in Devon. They married in 1867 on a visit back to his hometown of Newry. Hugh's parents were Hugh Boyd of Ashgrove Cottage (1788-1848) and Jane Carlile (1797-1866), both of Newry families. Gertrude's mother Mary Emmes James, was the daughter of Nathaniel Emmes James of Brooklyn (1808-1866), married 6 January 1841 at Berlin, Hartford County, Connecticut, Mary Judd Eddy. Both the James and Eddy families can be traced further back to 1600s colonial New England.

Castle Godwyn, Painswick, Gloucestershire

Marjorie Howard, the only surviving child of Sir Francis Howard and Gertrude Jane Boyd, was born in 1903, and though she received a liberal education at home, did not attend university. She had strong literary tastes, and a talent for writing, and though she married  in 1931 at the relatively late age of 28, her husband George (John Theodore Hyde) 'Jack' Villiers, was a poet and writer and so a perfect match. Sadly, their only child, Michael George Villiers, lived just fifteen days in 1937.  Writing helped the couple to overcome their grief. Jack Villiers's biography of his grandfather, A Vanished Victorian: Being the Life of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon 1800-1870, was published in 1938, and dedicated to his wife, whose own book The Grand Whiggery, a look at the highest levels of society in the Whig world from the Duke of Devonshire's marriage to Lady Georgiana Spencer, down to Lady Caroline Lamb, was published the following year in 1939.

Marjorie Villiers's book,
published in 1939

After George's untimely death in 1942 at age 50, Marjorie joined a colleague at the Foreign Office, Manya Harari, in founding Harvill Press early in 1946. Working out of a small space in Lower Belgrave Street in London, Manya's skill as a translator and Marjorie's as an editor made them a formidable combination, and they swiftly built up a distinguished list of religious-themed works. The 1950s saw them branch out, publishing English translations of works by authors from behind the Iron Curtain, most notably Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago in 1959, and Giuseppe Tomasi's The Leopard the following year. 1960 was also the year Harvill had its first bestseller, naturalist Joy Adamson's autobiographical Born Free, which Marjorie had championed and edited. She survived her husband forty years, and died in 1982 at the age of 79, greatly respected within the British Catholic and publishing communities.

Louisa Maria (née Maquay) Villiers
(1862-1933)

George Villiers is No. 26878 (p. 380) in Ruvigny's 1907 Exeter volume. I was hoping that entering his ancestry into my database would finally lead me to cross the 40,000 mark, but I came short, stopping at 39,818 - still quite a lot of individuals for a database. Like his wife Marjorie, George Villiers also had an American-born maternal grandmother. George's mother was Louisa Maria Maquay, born 1862 in Florence, Italy, the daughter of George Disney Maquay (1835-1893) of the Irish banking dynasty in Florence, who married 9 August 1860 at the English Episcopal Church in Paris, France, Anna Maria 'Nina' Cooley (born 1839 in New York). Anna Maria was the daughter of James Ewing Cooley (1802-1882), a New York State Senator 1852-53, book dealer and minor poet who wrote a witty and satiric account of his trip to Egypt, The American in Egypt, published in 1842. It is through his father, that George Villiers has two lines of descent from Anne, Duchess of Exeter, sister of Edward IV and Richard III. Line A below is the one Ruvigny included in 1907. Line B is an addition to Ruvigny.

Obituary for George Villiers
[Gloucester Journal, 23 May 1942]

GEORGE (JOHN THEODORE HYDE) 'Jack' VILLIERS of Knapp Orchard House, Painswick, Gloucestershire, author, b. 1 Oct. 1891 Cadogan Square, London; d. 12 Mar. 1942 Knapp Orchard House, only son of Col. Hon. George Patrick Hyde Villiers of Cadogan Square (1847-1892, descended from Edward III - see Generation A19 below) and Louisa Maria Maquay (1862-1933); m. 16 Sept. 1931 Church of the Immaculate Conception, Beeches Green, Stroud, Gloucestershire, MARJORIE HOWARD, editor, co-founder Harvill Press 1946, author of  b. 9 Aug. 1903 Hartley Wintley, Hampshire; d. 4 Sept. 1982 Painswick, Gloucestershire, only dau. of Sir Francis Howard of Castle Godwyn (1848-1930, descended from Edward III) and Gertrude Jane Boyd (1871-1953), and had issue, one son.

Issue of George and Marjorie (Howard) Villiers:

1)  MICHAEL GEORGE VILLIERS, b. 10 Dec. 1937 Marylebone, London; d. in infancy there 25 Dec. 1937.

Edward III had a second surviving son
A1) Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence (1338-1368) m. 1) Lady Elizabeth de Burgh (1332-1363, descended from Edward I), and had
A2) Lady Philippa of Clarence (1355-1377) m. Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March (1352-1381), and had
A3) Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (1374-1398) m. Lady Alianore Holland (1370-1405, descended from Edward I), and had
A4) Lady Anne Mortimer (1388-1411) m. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (1385-1415, descended from Edward III), and had

1st Earl of Rutland - see Generation A8

A5) Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (1411-1460) m. Lady Cecily Neville (1415-1495, descended from Edward III), and had
A6) Anne Plantagenet, Duchess of Exeter (1439-1476) m. 2) Sir Thomas St Leger (by 1438-1483), and had
A7) Lady Anne St Leger (1475-1526) m. George Manners, 11th Lord Ros (1470-1513, descended from Edward I), and had
A8) Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland (c.1497-1543) m. 2) Eleanor Paston (c.1505-1551, descended from Edward I), and had
A9) Lady Katherine Manners (c.1540-1573) m. Henry Capell of Hadham Hall (c.1533-1588, descended from Edward I), and had two sons A10 & B10 (see below)
A10) Sir Arthur Capell of Hadham Hall (1558-1632) m. Margaret Grey (c.1559-1604, descended from Edward III), and had
A11) Sir Henry Capell, Heir of Hadham Hall (1578-1622) m. 1) Theodosia Montagu (1584-1614, descended from Edward I), and had
A12) Arthur, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (1604-1649) m. Elizabeth Morison (1610-1661, descended from Edward III), and had
A13) Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex (1632-1683) m. Lady Elizabeth Percy (1636-1717, descended from Edward III), and had

3rd Earl of Essex - see Generation A15

A14) Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex (1670-1710) m. Lady Mary Bentinck (1679-1726, descended from Edward III), and had
A15) William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex (1697-1743) m. 1) Lady Jane Hyde (1697-1724, descended from Edward III), and had
A16) Lady CHARLOTTE CAPELL, b. 2 Oct. 1721; d. 3 Sept. 1790 Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, bur. 11 Sept. 1790 St Mary Church, Watford, Hertfordshire; m. 30 Mar. 1752, THOMAS VILLIERS, 1st Earl of Clarendon, b. 19 June 1709 London, bap. 29 June 1709 St James Church, Westminster; d. 11 Dec. 1786 The Grove, Watford, bur. 20 Dec. 1786 St Mary Church, Watford, 2nd son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey (1682-1721, descended from Edward III) and Judith Herne (c.1689-1735, and had
A17) Hon. GEORGE VILLIERS of Portman Square, M.P. Warwick 1792-1802, b. 23 Nov. 1759 London, bap. 18 Dec. 1759 St James Church, Westminster; d. 21 Mar. 1827 Kent House, Knightsbridge, London, bur. 28 Mar. 1827 St Mary Church, Watford; m. 17 Apr. 1798 Hill Street, Berkeley Square, London, Hon. THERESA PARKER, b. 22 Sept. 1775 Saltram House, Plympton, Devon; d. 12 Jan. 1856 The Grove, bur. St Mary Church, Watford, dau. of John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1735-1788, descended from Edward III) and his 2nd wife Hon. Theresa Robinson (1745-1775, descended from Edward III), and had

4th Earl of Clarendon -
see Generation A18

A18) GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK VILLIERS, 4th Earl of Clarendon, b. 26 Jan. 1800 Upper Grosvenor Street, London; d. 27 June 1870 Belgravia, London, bur. 2 July 1870 Vicarage Road Cemetery, Watford; m. 4 June 1839 St Albans Cathedral, Hertfordshire, as her 2nd husband, Lady KATHARINE GRIMSTON (see B18 below), and had
A19) Col. Hon. GEORGE PATRICK HYDE VILLIERS of Cadogan Square, Grenadier Guards, b. 27 Sept. 1847 Viceregal Lodge [Áras An Uachtaráin], Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland; d. 10 Jan. 1892 The Grove, bur. Vicarage Road Cemetery, Watford; m. 9 Oct. 1884 St George Hanover Square, London, as her 1st husband, LOUISA MARIA MAQUAY, b. 1862 Florence, Italy; d. 22 Nov. 1933 Knapp Cottage, Painswick, Gloucestershire, dau. of George Disney Maquay of Florence, banker (1835-1893) and Anna Maria Cooley (b. 1839), and had
A20) George (John Theodore Hyde) Villiers of Knapp Orchard House (1891-1942 - see details above) m. Marjorie Howard

3rd Viscount Grimston -
see Generation B16

B10) Sir Gamaliel Capell of Rookwood Hall (1562-1613)[*1] m. his first cousin, Jane Browne (d. 1618, descended from Edward I), and had

B11) Mildred Capell (c.1600-1633) m. Sir William Luckyn, 1st Baronet of Little Waltham (1594-1661), and had
B12) Sir Capell Luckyn, 2nd Baronet of Little Waltham (1622-1680) m. Mary Grimston (d. 1719), and had

B13) Sir William Luckyn, 3rd Baronet of Little Waltham (1658-1708) m. Mary Sherrington (1663-1749), and had
B14) William Luckyn [later Grimston], 1st Viscount Grimston (1684-1756) m. Jane Cooke (c.1685-1765), and had
B15) James Grimston, 2nd Viscount Grimston (1711-1773) m. Mary Bucknall (1717-1778), and had
B16) James Bucknall Grimston, 3rd Viscount Grimston (1747-1808) m. Harriot Walter (c.1755-1786), and had

Katharine (née Grimston), Countess
of Clarendon - see Generation B18

B17) JAMES WALTER GRIMSTON, 1st Earl of Verulam, b. 26 Sept. 1775 London, bap. 26 Oct. 1775 St George Hanover Square; d. 17 Nov. 1845 Gorhambury House, St Albans, Hertfordshire, bur. 25 Nov. 1845 St Michael Church, St Albans; m. 11 Aug. 1807 St John the Baptist Church, Croydon, Surrey, Lady CHARLOTTE JENKINSON, b. 8 June 1783 Mayfair, London, bap. 3 July 1783 St George Hanover Square; d. 16 Apr. 1863 Grosvenor Square, London, bur. 24 Apr. 1863 St Michael Church, St Albans, dau. of Charles Jenkins, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1729-1808, descended from Edward III) and his 2nd wife Catherine Bishopp (1744-1827, descended from Edward III)[*2], and had
B18) Lady KATHARINE GRIMSTON, b. 18 Apr. 1810 London, bap. 2 July 1810 St George Hanover Square; d. 4 July 1874 Marylebone, London, bur. 8 July 1874 Vicarage Road Cemetery, Watford; m. 2nd 4 June 1839 St Albans Cathedral, Hertfordshire, GEORGE VILLIERS, 4th Earl of Clarendon (see A18 above)

[*1] Ruvigny includes Sir Gamaliel Capell in Table XXVII (p. 30) of his Exeter volume, but does not trace any of his descendants (see p. 413 of the same volume), so the whole of Line B above is an addition to Ruvigny. The entry for Sir Gamaliel in History of Parliament states that he was born 2 January 1561. In actuality he was born 2 January 1561/2. The mother of his wife Jane Browne was his father's sister Mary Capell.

Ruvigny on p. 413 of his Exeter volume was unaware that Gamaliel Capell had descendants

[*2] For those who enjoy mtDNA (female-to-female line) as much as I do, Catherine (née Bishopp), Countess of Liverpool, is a third-generation mtDNA descendant of Arabella Churchill (1649-1730), the mistress of James II of England. The mtDNA line of Col. Hon. George Patrick Hyde Villiers (A19 above), can be traced back ten generations, to Dame Audrey (née Saunders) Villiers, who died in 1587.

As most of the remaining Edward III lines for George Villiers, husband of Marjorie Howard, are well-covered in peerage works and other online resources, I will only examine the Edward III lines in the Villiers ancestry that aren't to be found in the Genealogics and Roglo databases. The next blogpost will look at the Edward III lines behind Elizabeth (née Morison), Lady Capell (see Generation A12 above).

Cheers,                          -----Brad