Life
Villers was the eldest son of Sir George Villiers, by his first wife Audrey Saunders, making him half-brother to the court favourite of King James I of England George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG, Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey and John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck. He was knighted on 7 September 1616. In October 1617, he succeeded Sir Richard Martin as Master of the Mint(until 1623), and in November 1618 he became comptroller of the Court of Wards. From 1623 until his death he was Warden of the Mint.
On 30 December 1620 Villiers was elected Member of Parliament for Westminster. In the same month he was sent to Frederick III, Elector Palatine to say that assistance would be rendered him, but only on condition that he entered into an agreement to relinquish the crown of Bohemia. Villiers returned before May and took his seat in parliament, but was in that month temporarily excluded from the house for attempting to speak on the question of a patent, in which he was personally interested (the gold and silver patent in which Villiers had invested £4,000 in 1617, and from which he derived an income of £500 annually). His conduct was vindicated in the inquiry by the House of Lords in June, and Villiers was allowed to resume his seat in the Commons. In September he was again sent to the Elector Frederick, then serving with the Dutch army, to persuade him to withdraw from it and submit to the Holy Roman Emperor. On 23 September 1622 he was granted a lease of the customs and subsidies on gold and silver thread on condition of surrendering the mastership of the mint, but the latter office was restored to him in July 1624. He was re-elected MP for Westminster on 22 January 1624 for the Happy Parliament, and on 25 April 1625 for the Useless Parliament. In August 1625 he asked the commons to prevent a dissolution by desisting from their attack on Buckingham.
Meanwhile James I, in January 1625, appointed Villiers Lord President of Munster; the appointment was confirmed by Charles I on 6 May, and in August Villiers went to Ireland to assume his duties. He held the post little over a year, and was absent for several months during that period.
Villiers died in the college of Youghal, which he made his official residence, on 7 September 1626; he was buried in St. Mary's, Youghal.
Read more about this topic: Edward Villiers (Master Of The Mint)
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