Sir John Arthur Herbert

GCIE The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

(16 December 1895 – 11 December 1943) was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and a colonial governor in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, serving as

Governor of Bengal The Governor was the chief colonial administrator in the Bengal presidency, originally the "Presidency of Fort William" and later "Bengal province". In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to ...

from 1939 till his death in December 1943.

Early life

Herbert was born at Coldbrook, Monmouthshire, Wales on 16 December 1895. He was the only son of Sir Arthur James Jones-Herbert

GCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

, of Llanarth, Monmouthshire, and Dame Helen Louise Gammell, of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. From his father's first marriage to Mariquita Consuello Haffenden (the widow of Count Henri Nicolaieff), he had an elder half-sister, Jeanne Marie Therese Herbert, who married Francis Lane-Fox (elder brother of

George Lane-Fox, 1st Baron Bingley George Richard Lane Fox, 1st Baron Bingley, PC (15 December 1870 – 11 December 1947) was a British Conservative politician. He served as Secretary for Mines between 1922 and 1924, and again between 1924 and 1928. Background and education Lan ...

) and, after his death, Alfred Edmund Brödermann. His niece, Maria Dolores Brödermann, married Sir Charles Mander, 3rd Baronet.

Career

Herbert was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the British Army in 1919. He was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at a by-election in 1934. In that year, he was made an honorary Major. He represented the constituency in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

until his

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

on 1 July 1939, when he was appointed as Governor of Bengal. Herbert was made an honorary Colonel in 1939 and was also knighted with the GCIE upon becoming Governor of Bengal. He served as Governor until his death in 1943, aged 48.

Personal life

On 11 June 1924, Herbert married Lady Mary Fox-Strangeways (1903–1948) in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. Lady Mary was the eldest daughter of

Giles Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester (31 May 1874 – 29 October 1959), styled Lord Stavordale until 1905, was a British peer and philanthropist. Background and education Fox-Strangways was the eldest child of Henry Fox-S ...

and Lady Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart (a daughter of the 6th Marquess of Londonderry). Together, they were the parents of: * Robin Arthur Elidyr Herbert (b. 1934), who studied at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, Oxford and Harvard and who married Margaret Griswold Lewis, a daughter of Geoffrey Whitney Lewis (who was with the U.S. Mission to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in Paris), in 1960. Sir John died at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

, Calcutta on 11 December 1943.Geneanet - Colonel, Sir John Arthur Herbert G.C.I.E.
/ref> Following his death, his widow served as a

Woman of the Bedchamber In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom the term Woman of the Bedchamber is used to describe a woman (usually a daughter of a peer) attending either a queen regnant or queen consort, in the role of lady-in-waiting. Historically the term 'Ge ...

to Princess Elizabeth from 1944 until her death in 1948.

References

External links

* * * Photograph of Sir John Herbert a
New Bengal Governor
(Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 1895 births 1943 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 British governors of Bengal Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire {{Wales-Conservative-UK-MP-stub