George William Frederick Villiers Clarendon, fourth earl of, and Baron Hyde of Hindon, a British statesman, a descendant of the preceding through the female line, born in London, Jan. 12, 1800, died there, June 27, 1870. His earliest appointment was as commissioner of customs in Ireland. In 1833 he was appointed by Lord Grey's government envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Spain. He tilled this post, at that time one of importance and difficulty, in a manner highly creditable to himself and acceptable to the constitutional party in Spain, which was in a state of anarchy and civil war during the first years of his mission. The success with which Mr. Yilliers had conducted the negotiation of a treaty for the effectual suppression of the slave trade, and the manner in which he had performed his other official duties, were warmly eulogized by Lord Palmerston in his speech on the foreign affairs of the country in April, 1838, and returning to England in 1839 took his seat in the house of lords. He was soon called to vindicate the policy of the ministry by which he had been employed, and his own conduct as their representative in Spain, against the attacks of the marquis of Londonderry, a champion of the Carlist faction.

His defence of the Spanish character and the policy of the constitutional party in Spain was so acceptable in that country, that a gold medal was struck in his honor. In 1839 Lord Clarendon became a member of the Melbourne government as lord privy seal, and in 1840 he was made chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. He retired from the ministry on Sir Robert Peel's accession to power in 1841, but supported all the liberal measures of his government. When the repeal of the corn laws was brought forward in 184G, Clarendon made an able speech in its support. On the change of administration, and the accession of Lord John Russell to power in 1846, Clarendon was appointed president of the board of trade, which office he filled until the death of the earl of Bessborough, May 16, 1847, who had been appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland under the same administration, when he was transferred to that office, He was at first extremely popular. His situation, however, soon became one of embarrassment. The distress produced by the famine was severe, and the measures for its mitigation adopted by the imperial parliament were attended with very limited success. Nothing within the power of the executive was neglected by Clarendon. The short-lived rebellion of Smith O'Brien followed.

It was subdued with the smallest possible amount of bloodshed; but Clarendon's popularity with both parties was impaired. The disaffected looked upon him with aversion as the agent of an odious government, and the Orange faction were disgusted with his mildness. He experienced the too common fate of moderate counsels, in alienating both extremes of party. His conduct was not only unpopular with both factions in Ireland, but was severely denounced by Lord Stanley (afterward earl of Derby) in the house of lords. Clarendon on this occasion left his government in Ireland, and, appearing in his seat in parliament, vindicated his conduct. On the formation of the first Derby ministry in 1852, Clarendon was superseded by Lord Eglinton in the government of Ireland. Under Lord Aberdeen's premiership, the department of foreign affairs, after it was resigned by Lord John Russell, was intrusted to Lord Clarendon (1853), and was conducted by him with acknowledged ability. Of all Aberdeen's ministry, he retained perhaps the greatest share of the public favor, and remained in office on Lord Palmerston's accession to power.

The important negotiations relative to the Crimean war and the adjustment of the balance of Europe at its close were carried on by Lord Clarendon with marked though not ostentatious vigor, and in a conciliatory spirit. He signed the treaty of alliance between Great Britain and France, April 10, 1854; remained at his post during the ministerial crisis of February, 1855; had an interview with Napoleon III. at Boulogne (March 3) on occasion of the death of the emperor Nicholas; took a prominent part in the peace conference at Paris, when he came forward as a champion of the liberal institutions of Belgium, and signed the treaties of Paris of March 30 and April 15, 1855. He was less fortunate in conducting the relations of England with the United States. The negotiations relative to Central America and the enlistment question produced a temporary coldness toward the government of the United States, and the dismissal of Mr. Crampton, the British minister at Washington. Clarendon continued to administer the foreign office till the earl of Derby effected his return to power in 1858, when he was succeeded by the earl of Malmesbury. In 1861 he was named ambassador extraordinary to attend the coronation of King William of Prussia. In March, 1864, he rejoined Palmer-ston's cabinet as chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, He afterward entered upon a private mission to the emperor Napoleon at Vichy, and as joint plenipotentiary represented England at the conference of London having for its object the cessation of hostilities between Germany and Denmark on the Schleswig-Holstein question.

In November, 1865, Lord Russell having succeeded Lord Palmerston as prime minister, Clarendon again became secretary of state for foreign affairs, and continued in that office until the formation of a new government by Lord Derby in July, 1866. In the beginning of 1868 he acted as an envoy to the pope and King Victor Emanuel of Italy, to prevent if possible the impending conflict, and announced that in case of war England would maintain a friendly neutrality with France. On the accession of Mr. Gladstone to power in 1868, Lord Clarendon was again appointed foreign secretary, and retained the office till his death. In January, 1861), he resumed with the American minister, Reverdy Johnson, the negotiations which had been conducted by Lord Stanley in the matter of the Alabama claims, which were now concluded by the so-called "Johnson-Clarendon treaty.11 This treaty was advocated by Clarendon with great zeal in the house of lords, but was rejected almost unanimously by the senate of the United States. - His eldest son having died in 1846, he was succeeded in the earldom by his second son, Edward Hyde Villiers, born Feb. 11, 1846, who had previously represented in parliament the borough of Brecknock.