Robert Villiers, styled 3rd Viscount Purbeck, Styled Viscount Purbeck, claimant to the barony and viscountcy of Purbeck, no legally recognized peerage succession established, Claimant or styled Viscount Purbeck, military commander during the Civil War and Commonwealth, Member of Parliament for Westbury and later Malmesbury, later associated with the Fifth Monarchy movement., Styled 2nd Viscount Purbeck after the death of John Villiers in 1658, never securely admitted to the peerage. Member of Parliament for Westbury in 1659 and Malmesbury in 1660, Royalist colonel and governor of Oswestry in 1643–1644, later associated with Parliament and the Protectorate., Styled 3rd Viscount Purbeck and Baron Villiers of Stoke, never received a writ of summons.
Dates: 14 March 1656/7–April 1684; some later accounts report his death as 1685
Biography
Robert was the elder surviving son of Robert Danvers alias Wright, Howard and Villiers and Elizabeth Danvers, heiress of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey. After his father's death he was treated in some circles as the successor to the disputed Purbeck claim and was styled the 3rd Viscount Purbeck. He married Lady Margaret de Burgh in 1676, daughter and only child of Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, and was killed in a duel at Liège in April 1684. His death left an only son, John Villiers, who later continued the self-styled Purbeck claim.
Notes / Sources
Dictionary of National Biography, Robert Danvers alias Villiers alias Wright — https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Danvers,_Robert
John Aubrey, Brief Lives, Danvers-Villiers family — https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47787/47787-h/47787-h.htm
National Library of Ireland catalogue, Liège duel letter, April 1684 — https://sources.nli.ie/Record/MS_UR_008096
Memoirs of the Count de Grammont — https://resources.warburg.sas.ac.uk/pdf/ebh720b2456460.pdf
Family / Armorial Context
Family / cadet branch: Danvers-Villiers of Purbeck
Father: Robert Danvers alias Robert Wright, Robert Howard and Robert Villiers (19 October 1624–1674)
Mother: Elizabeth Danvers, daughter and coheiress of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey (baptized 1 May 1629; buried 22 August 1709)
Spouse(s): Lady Margaret de Burgh, daughter and only child of Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde; married 1676; died 1698
Children / next generation: John Villiers, born 1677, later styled Viscount Purbeck
Armorial Registry
Villiers of Purbeck — Robert Villiers, styled 3rd Viscount Purbeck, Liège claimant and final principal male-line claimant of the Danvers-Villiers branch
Branch: Danvers-Villiers of Purbeck, issue of Robert Danvers alias Villiers and Elizabeth Danvers
Issued / recorded: 14 March 1656/7
Danvers alias Villiers — Robert Danvers, disputed Purbeck claimant and illegitimate collateral continuation
Branch: Illegitimate issue of Frances Coke and Sir Robert Howard; later connected by marriage to the Danvers of Dauntsey inheritance
Issued / recorded: 1621
Danvers alias Villiers of Purbeck — Robert Danvers and the legally disputed succession to the Purbeck viscountcy
Branch: Danvers alias Villiers of Bassetbury and Knighton; claimant to the Purbeck succession
Issued / recorded: 1655
Purbeck succession — Robert Villiers and the posthumous claim of Robert Danvers's son
Branch: Danvers-Villiers collateral succession from Robert Danvers and Elizabeth Danvers
Issued / recorded: 1675
Corrections / Challenges
Sign in to challenge or submit evidence against a recorded assertion.