[Illustration] The family of Villers or Villiers is ancient in
Leicestershire, Alexander de Villiers being lord of Brokesby in that
county early in the thirteenth century. The present coat of arms is
said to have been assumed in the reign of Edward I., as a badge of
Sir Richard de Villers' services in the crusades. "Villiers of
Brokesby" occurs among the gentlemen of Leicestershire, "that be
there most of reputation," in the Itinerary of Leland the antiquary
in the reign of Henry VIII. But the great rise of the family
was in the reign of James I., when the favourite Sir George Villiers
became Duke of Buckingham in 1623, extinct 1687. The Earls of Jersey
are sprung from the second but elder brother of the first duke.
Their connection with Oxfordshire appears not to have been before
the middle of the last century. Brokesby was sold by Sir William
Villiers, who died s. p. 1711.
Younger Branch. The Earl of Clarendon (1776), descended from the
second son of the second Earl of Jersey.
Extinct branch. The Earl of Grandison in Ireland, 1721; extinct
1766; descended from the elder brother of Sir Edward Villiers, who
died 1689, ancestor of the Earl of Jersey.
See Leland's Itinerary, i. fol. 23, and vi. fol. 65; Nichols's
Leicestershire, iii. pt. i. p. 197; and Brydges's Collins, iii. 762.
ARMS.--_Argent, on a cross gules five escallops or_. The ancient
arms founded on those of the Bellemonts Earls of Leicester were
_Sable, three cinquefoils argent_.
Present Representative, Victor Albert George Villiers, 7th Earl of
Jersey.
+Gentle.+