Edward VI of England half-sister Mary would jeopardise the English Reformation, and Edward's Council and officers had many reasons to fear it. Edward himself opposed Mary's succession, not only on religious grounds but also on those of legitimacy and male inheritance, which also applied to Elizabeth. He composed a draft document, headed "My devise for the succession", in which he undertook to change the succession, most probably inspired by his father Henry VIII's precedent. He passed over the claims of his half-sisters and, at last, settled the Crown on his first cousin once removed, the 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey, who on 25 May 1553
Edward Villiers (Master of the Mint) George Villiers, succeeded as 3rd and 4th Viscounts Grandison. His fourth son, Sir Edward Villiers, was the father of Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey. Villiers's widow, Barbara, died in 1672. Edward Villiers (Master of the Mint) Sir Edward Villiers (c.1585 – 7 September 1626) was an English nobleman, diplomat, office-holder, knight, and politician from the Villiers family who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1625. Edward Villiers, born about 1585, was the second son of Sir George Villiers by his first wife, Audrey Saunders (d.1587), the daughter and heir of William Saunders (d. 14 July 1582)