VILLIERS, Hon. Thomas (1709-86), of The Grove, Watford, Herts.

Villiers was appointed to Poland in 1738 on the recommendation of Queen Caroline, at the instance of his brother, Lord Jersey.Coxe, Walpole, iii. 370. He retired in 1746, feeling that ‘he would be happier in an honourable retreat than in the enjoyment of a foreign employment’, but making it clear that he expected to be provided for.To Ld. Harrington, 22 Apr. 1746 SP For. 88/68. Returned in 1747 for Tamworth on the interest of his cousin, the 2nd Viscount Weymouth, he was submitted with Sir Peter Warren for a vacancy on the Admiralty board by Pelham to the King, who chose Villiers. Though Horace Walpole calls Villiers ‘a very silly fellow’,To Mann, 26 Dec. 1748. he managed to remain in lucrative posts for most of the time till he died, Earl of Clarendon, 11 Dec. 1786.