John Villiers, 1st Earl Grandison

John Villiers, 1st Earl Grandison (c.1684 – 14 May 1766) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer from the Villiers family.

Grandison was the son of Brigadier-General Hon. Edward FitzGerald-Villiers and Katherine FitzGerald. His father was the son of George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison, but had assumed the surname of FitzGerald following his marriage. As such, Grandison was also known as John FitzGerald. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He succeeded to his grandfather's viscountcy on 16 December 1699.^[1]

In 1704 he was the Governor of the City of Waterford. As his title was in the Peerage of Ireland, he was not barred from standing for the House of Commons of England. As such, he served as Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Old Sarum between May and December 1705. In 1721, he was invested as a member of the Privy Council of Ireland and on 11 September that year was made Earl Grandison, of County Leitrim in the Peerage of Ireland.^[2]

Grandison married Frances Cary, the daughter of Edward Cary and Anne Lucas, in February 1706. Together they had three children, although only one daughter outlived him. As such, his earldom became extinct on his death, while his viscountcy was inherited by his second cousin, William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey.^[3][4]

References

1. Cracroft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage - 'Grandison, Earl (I, 1721 - 1766)' http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/grandison1721.htm
2. Cracroft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage - 'Grandison, Earl (I, 1721 - 1766)' http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/grandison1721.htm
3. Cracroft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage - 'Grandison, Earl (I, 1721 - 1766)' http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/grandison1721.htm
4. John Debrett, Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Volume 2 (1828), 39.