Social Victorians/People/Jersey

Also Known As

• Family name: Child-Villiers
• Earl of Island of Jersey
  • George Augustus Frederick Child-Villiers, 6th Earl of the Island of Jersey (3 October 1859 – 24 October 1859)
  • Victor Albert George Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of Island of Jersey (24 October 1859 – 31 May 1915)
  • George Henry Robert Child-Villiers, 8th Earl of the Island of Jersey (31 May 1915 – 31 December 1923)
• Viscount Villiers, subsidiary title for the Earl of Jersey
• Walter FitzUryan Rice's name was officially changed to Walter FitzUryan Rhys on 26 December 1916.
• Other Villiers include the Earl of Clarendon and Robert Edward Villiers, stage performer and producer

Timeline

1833 October 1, a portrait of Julia Peel as a child by Samuel Cousins was published as a mezzotint by Moon, Boys & Graves (image at the National Portrait Gallery).

1841 July 12, George Augustus Frederick Child-Villiers, 6th Earl of the Island of Jersey and Julia Peel married.

1856, a portrait by John Penstone of Julia Peel Child Villiers, when she was Viscountess Villiers, was published by Rogerson and Tuxford (image at the National Portrait Gallery).

1859, George Child Villiers became Earl of Jersey three weeks before his death.

1859 October 24, George Child Villers died; his and Julia Child Villiers' 14-year-old son became the 7th Earl of Jersey.

1865 September 12, Julia Peel Child-Villiers, Dowager Countess of Jersey and Charles Brandling married in St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge.

1872 September 19, Victor Albert George Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of Island of Jersey and Hon. Margaret Elizabeth Leigh married.

1887 April 19, Thomas Pakenham succeeded as the 6th Baron Longford, County Longford (Ireland, 1756) and as the 4th Baron Silchester, County Southampton (U.K., 1821).

1897 July 2, Friday, Lord and Lady Jersey, Lady Margaret Child-Villiers, and Lady M. Villiers attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1898 October 12, Lady Margaret Child-Villiers and Walter FitzUryan Rice married.

1899 November 8, Lady Mary Julia Child-Villiers and Thomas Pakenham married.

1908 October 8, George Henry Robert Child-Villiers and Lady Cynthia Almina Constance Mary Needham married.

1911 June 8, Walter FitzUryan Rice succeeded as 7th Baron Dynevor of Dynevor.

Margaret Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey in costume as Anne of Austria. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Lady Margaret Villiers in costume as Madame Henriette, Duchess d'Orleans. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Lord and Lady Jersey and Lady M. Villiers are together described as a group in the Times article about the ball.

Lord and Lady Jersey

Margaret Elizabeth Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey (at 432) went as Anne of Austria. Lord Victor Jersey (at 431) was present as well.

Alexander Bassano's portrait of "Margaret Elizabeth Child-Villiers (née Leigh), Countess of Jersey as Anne of Austria" in costume is photogravure #65 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "The Countess of Jersey as Anne of Austria," with a Long S in Countess.

Lady Margaret Child-Villiers

Lady Margaret Child-Villiers (at 433) also attended, as Madame Henriette, Duchess d'Orleans, so she is probably Lady M. Villiers.

Alexander Bassano's portrait of "Margaret Child (née Child-Villiers), Lady Dynevor when Lady Margaret Villiers as Madame Henriette, Duchess d'Orleans" in costume is photogravure #66 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Margaret Villiers as Madame Henriette Duchess d'Orleans," with a Long S in Duchess.

The Ladies Villiers

Victor, Earl of Jersey and Margaret, Countess of Jersey had 3 unmarried daughters who might have attended this ball. The eldest — Lady Margaret Child-Villiers — went, we know; she was 21 years old at the time of the ball. If she attended, her sister — Lady May Julia Child-Villiers — may have been in the Cosway quadrille; she was 20 years old. The third daughter — Lady Beatrice Child-Villiers — was 16, and thus young for the ball and probably had not been presented to the Queen yet, so she seems unlikely. Lady Edith Villiers, 18 years old and part of the family of the Earl of Clarendon, was included in the Album given to the Duchess of Devonshire, dressed as "Lady Melbourne after Cosway."

The Ladies Villiers were in the Cosway quadrille with the Ladies Ker, which probably means 2 ladies Villiers and 2 ladies Ker and 4 men. The young women that the newspapers identified as the "Ladies Ker" or "the Ladies Innes-Ker" were Lady Margaret Innes-Ker (at 23) and Lady Victoria Innes-Ker (at 383), identified by their portrait in the Album given to the Duchess of Devonshire. They were dressed as a group based on miniatures by late 18th-, early 19th-century painter Maria Cosway:

• "Very artistic was the 'Cosway' quadrille, in which the Ladies Ker and the Ladies Villiers took part. The long clinging gowns of Oriental cream satin were veiled in pink muslin, and had very short waists and coloured silk sashes — two of blue and two of pink."
• "Very artistic was the 'Cosway' quadrille, in which the Ladies Ker and the Ladies Villiers took part. The long, clinging gowns of Oriental cream satin were veiled in sink [sic] muslin, and had very short waists and coloured silk sashes — two of blue and two of pink."
• "The Ladies Innes-Ker wore dresses copied from Cosway miniatures, made of soft white satin, covered with lisse, with short-waisted sash of narrow blue satin ribbon; the hair powdered and threaded with blue ribbon."

It is possible, then, that the Ladies Villiers were Lady Edith Villiers (at 282) and Lady May Julia Child-Villiers (at 372), but certainty is not high.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Residences

Julia Peel Child-Villiers

• With George Child Villiers, country estate: Middleton Stoney, Oxfordshire
• London residence: 32 Wilton Place, S.W. (as of 1875–1884)
• Middleton Hall, Leeds (as of 1875–1884)

Family

• Julia Beatrice Peel (30 April 1821 - 14 August 1893)
• George Augustus Frederick Child-Villiers, 6th Earl of the Island of Jersey (4 April 1808 – 24 October 1859)

1. Lady Julia Sarah Alice Child-Villiers (1842 – 24 October 1921)
2. Lady Caroline Anne Child-Villiers (1843 – 22 July 1912)
3. Victor Albert George Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of Island of Jersey (20 March 1845 – 31 May 1915)
4. Hon. Robert Frederick Child-Villiers (1 March 1847 – 8 April 1914)
5. Hon. Edward Reginald Child-Villiers (18 June 1849 – 13 November 1920)

• Charles Brandling (c. 1834 – 16 September 1894)

• Victor Albert George Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of Island of Jersey (20 March 1845 – 31 May 1915)
• Hon. Margaret Elizabeth Leigh (29 October 1849 – 22 May 1945)

1. George Henry Robert Child-Villiers, 8th Earl of the Island of Jersey (2 June 1873 – 31 December 1923)
2. Lady Margaret Child-Villiers (24 April 1874 – 24 April 1874)
3. Lady Margaret Elizabeth Child-Villiers (8 October 1875 – 1 April 1959)
4. Lady Mary Julia Child-Villiers (26 May 1877 – 21 November 1933)
5. Lady Beatrice Child-Villiers (12 October 1880 – 30 May 1970)
6. Major Hon. Arthur George Child-Villiers (24 November 1883 – 7 May 1969)

• Lady Cynthia Almina Constance Mary Needham (7 November 1889 – 12 January 1947)
• George Henry Robert Child-Villiers, 8th Earl of the Island of Jersey (2 June 1873 – 31 December 1923)
  1. George Francis Child-Villiers, 9th Earl of the Island of Jersey (15 February 1910 – 9 August 1998)
  2. Lady Joan Child-Villiers (26 September 1911 – 6 February 2010)
  3. Hon. Edward Mansel Child-Villiers (3 May 1913 – 9 March 1980)
  4. Lady Ann Child-Villiers (23 May 1916 – 13 December 2006)
• Commander William Rodney Slessor ( – 14 April 1945)
  1. Dinah Slessor (c. 1926 – )
  2. Henry Slessor (1929 – )

• Lady Margaret Child-Villiers (8 October 1875 – 1 April 1959)
• Walter FitzUryan Rhys, 7th Baron Dynevor of Dynevor (17 August 1873 – 8 June 1956)

1. Charles Arthur Uryan Rhys, 8th Baron Dynevor of Dynevor (21 September 1899 – 1962)
2. Hon. Elwyn Villiers Rhys (19 December 1900 – 10 January 1966)
3. Hon. Imogen Alice Rhys (27 August 1903 – 23 March 2001)
4. Hon. David Reginald Rhys (18 March 1907 – 24 May 1991)

• Lady Mary Julia Child-Villiers (26 May 1877 – 21 November 1933)
• Brig.-Gen. Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford (19 October 1864 – 21 August 1915)
  1. Edward Arthur Henry Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford (29 December 1902 – 4 February 1961)
  2. Lady Margaret Pansy Felicia Pakenham (18 May 1904 – 19 February 1999)
  3. Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001)
  4. Lady Mary Katherine Pakenham (23 August 1907 – 19 March 2010)
  5. Lady Violet Georgiana Pakenham (13 March 1912 – 12 January 2002)
  6. Lady Julia Agnes Cynthia Pakenham (5 November 1913 – 10 September 1956)

Relations

Julia Peel Child-Villiers's father was Robert Peel, Prime Minister.

• Robert Peel
• Mother Julia Floyd Peel

1. Julia Beatrice Peel
2. Elizabeth Cockburn
3. Robert Peel
4. Arthur Wellesley Peel
5. William Peel
6. Eliza Stonor
7. Frederick Peel
8. John Floyd Peel

Questions and Notes

1. Lady Margaret Child-Villiers is clearly the Lady M. Villiers in this story from the Middlesex County Times about her upcoming wedding. Other newspaper stories about society social events associate Lady M. Villiers with the Countess of Jersey, making her either Margaret Child-Villiers or Lady Mary Julia Child-Villiers. While Lady M. could be another relation, she seems likely to be one of the daughters of the Earl and Countess of Jersey. The Lady M. Villiers is listed in the Times account of the Duchess of Devonshire's ball with Lady Jersey and Lord and Lady Jersey. And the Album of portraits given to the Duchess of Devonshire does identify Margaret Child-Villiers as having attended.
2. Margaret Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey was an "aristocratic lady journalist," writing "travel articles, children's plays, verse and hymns."
3. A Mr. E. Villiers also attended the ball, but he seems mostly likely to be part of the family of the Earl of Clarendon.

Bibliography

• Thom, Adam Bissett, compiler. The Upper Ten Thousand: A Biographical Handbook of All the Titled... The Upper Ten Thousand: An Alphabetical List of All Members of Noble Families, Bishops, Privy Councillors, Judges, Baronets, Members of the House of Commons, Lords-Lieutenant, Governors of Colonies, Knights and Companions of Orders, Deans and Archdeacons, and the Superior Offices of the Army and Navy, with Their Official Descriptions and Addresses. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1875. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/uppertenthousan00thomgoog (accessed April 2015).