George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon
(1800-1870), Diplomat and politician; Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Duchy of LancasterEarly Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 16 portraits
Villiers spent the first ten years of his career as a Commissioner of Customs. At the young age of thirty-three he was appointed Minister to Spain, a role he held from 1833 until 1839. His time in Spain was considered by many to be the making of Villiers. He acquired a considerable reputation at home, where Whigs and radicals took a proprietary interest in Spanish liberalism. Soon fluent in Spanish, he was also a popular figure in the society of the Spanish capital. In 1838 Villiers succeeded his uncle as the fourth Earl of Clarendon, and soon after returned to England to receive a seat in the Whig cabinet, as Lord Privy Seal. He went on to serve as Viceroy of Ireland (1847-52) and Foreign Secretary (1852-8).
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