Clarendon, Fourth Earl of

(George William Frederick Villiers). Born Jan. 12, 1800, in London; died there June 27, 1870. Statesman of Great Britain, a Whig (later a Liberal).

From 1820 to 1823, Clarendon served as attaché in St. Petersburg; from 1833 to 1839 he was ambassador in Madrid. From 1839 to 1841, Clarendon was lord privy seal, and in 1846 he became minister of trade. He was lord lieutenant of Ireland from 1847 to 1852. He cruelly suppressed the Irish rebellion of 1848. From 1853 to 1858, 1865 to 1866, and 1868 to 1870, he served as foreign secretary. Hoping to weaken the position of Russia in the Mediterranean, he urged Turkey to wage war on Russia. During the Crimean War of 1853–56, Clarendon supported Palmerston’s projected partition of Russia.