Charles Hyde Villiers was born in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, on 21st September 1862. He was educated at Marlborough and then Oxford University, where he read History. Charles then attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst from where, in 1887, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards.

Between 1889 and 1903, Charles spent most of his time in Africa, with just two visits back to Britain. He was initially posted to Egypt and then on to an exploring and surveying expedition in Somaliland. In 1893, he was the Aide-De-Camp to Sir Gerald Portal on his mission to Uganda, after which Uganda was declared a British Protectorate. The same year, he was seconded into the Unyoro Campaign in support of the Sultan of Zanzibar. He was awarded the “Brilliant Star of Zanzibar” for his work there and, from the British Government, the Central African Medal.

In 1896, Charles was in Rhodesia and involved in the creation of the Rhodesian Horse Regiment. He was also a participant in the Jameson Raid, an ill-fated attempt to destabilise the Transvaal region of South Africa. The raiding party was captured by the Boers and, after imprisonment in Pretoria, was returned to Britain to face trial under the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, under whose direction the raid took place, stated that the men had been acting on his orders. On this basis, the court discharged Charles and eight other defendants. Charles then returned to South Africa, where the Boer War was about to start and was seconded to the newly raised South African Light Horse Regiment at the rank of acting Major.

Charles was to see action at Cape Colony, Tugela Heights and The Relief of Ladysmith, before returning home to Britain in 1903. On his retirement later that year, he was transferred to the Territorial Army and became honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st City of London Yeomanry, also known as the Rough Riders. In 1907, Charles was made one of His Majesty’s Bodyguard in the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, a position he was to hold until 1939.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Charles was in the “Reserve of Officers” and was brought out of retirement to become the Commanding Officer of the City of London Yeomanry. In 1915, they were posted to Egypt onboard the SS Scotian, arriving in Alexandria, Egypt, on 6th May. The yeomanry remained in Egypt guarding the Suez Canal until August when almost all the men were posted to Galipolli. Charles, however, was not with them as he had contracted dysentery while at Suez and was sent back to Britain for treatment. In January 1916, Charles was seconded into the Suffolk Yeomanry and made their Commanding Officer at Warren Heath Camp, near Ipswich, where the 2/1 Suffolk Yeomanry and 2/1 Norfolk Yeomanry were based. For his war service, Charles received the 1914-15 Star, the British War and Victory Medal.

Charles was married on 17th August 1901 to Lady Victoria Alexandrina Innes-Ker, cousin to Winston Churchill. They had six children, four daughters and two sons. The family home was at Folly Court, Wokingham in Berkshire. Charles died on 23rd May 1947 and is buried in St Paul’s Churchyard, Wokingham.