Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and 5th Earl of Montgomery, (c. 165622 January 1733), styled The Honourable Thomas Herbert until 1683, was an English and later British statesman during the reigns of

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

and

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

Background

Herbert was the third son of

Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke, 2nd Earl of Montgomery (1621 – 11 December 1669), was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, and his first wife Susan de Vere. He succeeded his father i ...

and his wife Catharine Villiers, daughter of

Sir William Villiers, 1st Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...

who was the half-brother of the 1st Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers. Through his grandmother, Susan de Vere, he was a great-grandson of

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604) was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron of ...

, the Oxfordians'

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. He was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

, Kent. Both of his brothers (the 6th Earl and the 7th Earl) having died without a male heir, he succeeded to the earldoms in 1683. Through them, he would inherit the family seat of the

Earls of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution o ...

in Wiltshire. WILTON HOUSE DSC 8756

Public life

Herbert was returned unopposed 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 ...

for Wilton at the two general elections of 1679 and the general election of 1681. He was no longer able to sit 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. ...

after assuming the peerage in 1683. From 1690 to 1692 as Lord Pembroke, he was

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

. He then served as

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

until 1699, being in 1697 the first

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at the congress of Ryswick. On two occasions he was Lord High Admiral for a short period; he was also

Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...

and

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

, while he acted as one of the Lords Justices seven times; and he was

President of the Royal Society The president of the Royal Society (PRS) is the elected Head of the Royal Society of London who presides over meetings of the society's council. After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was officially founded on 28 November ...

in 1689–1690. He is the dedicatee of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

's ''

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title ''An Essay Concerning Humane Understand ...

'' and Thomas Greenhill's ''The Art of Embalming''.

Marriages and progeny

He married three times: *Firstly in 1684 to Margaret Sawyer, only daughter of Sir Robert Sawyer of

Highclere Castle Highclere Castle is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in Hampshire, England, about south of Newbury, ...

by his wife Margaret Suckeley, by whom he had seven sons and five daughters: **

Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke Lt.-Gen. Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, 6th Earl of Montgomery (29 January 16939 January 1749) was an English peer and courtier. He was the heir and eldest son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and his first wife Margaret Sawyer. H ...

(c. 1689–1750), eldest son and heir **Hon.

Robert Sawyer Herbert Robert Sawyer Herbert (28 January 1693 – 1769) of Highclere Castle, Hampshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 46 years from 1722 to 1768. Early life Herbert was the second son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembrok ...

(died 1769), who inherited

**Hon. Charles Herbert **Hon. Thomas Herbert (c. 1695–1739) **Maj-Gen. Hon. William Herbert (c. 169631 March 1757), married Catherine Elizabeth Tewes (died 28 August 1770) and had

Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, who inherited

from his uncle **Hon. John Herbert **Hon. Nicholas Herbert (c. 1706–1775), husband of Anne North **Lady Catherine Herbert (died September 1716), wife of

Sir Nicholas Morice, 2nd Baronet Sir Nicholas Morice, 2nd Baronet (1681–1726) of Werrington, Cornwall, Werrington Park (then in Devon but now in Cornwall) was an English people, English politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and British House of Commons from ...

**Lady Margaret Herbert (died 15 December 1752) **Lady Elizabeth Herbert **Lady Anne Herbert **Lady Rebecca Herbert, wife of William Nevill, 16th Baron Bergavenny *Secondly in 1708 he married Barbara Slingsby (died 1 August 1721), daughter of

Sir Thomas Slingsby, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Slingsby, 2nd Baronet (15 June 1636 – 1 March 1688), of Scriven in Yorkshire, was an English landowner and Member of Parliament. He was the second but oldest surviving son of Sir Henry Slingsby, executed in 1658 for his adherence to ...

and widow of

John Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice John Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice (1649 – 21 June 1698) of Trerice, Cornwall, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1666 and 1687 when he inherited his peer ...

(1649–1698), of

Trerice Trerice (pronounced ''Tre-rice'') is an historic manor in the parish of Newlyn East (Newlyn in Pydar), near Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The surviving Tudor manor house known as Trerice House is located at Kestle Mill, three miles east ...

, Cornwall, by whom he had one daughter: **Lady Barbara Herbert (died 27 December 1752), who on 3 October 1730 married William Dudley North. *Thirdly he married Mary Howe (died 1749), daughter of

Scrope Howe, 1st Viscount Howe Scrope Howe, 1st Viscount Howe (November 1648 – 26 January 1713) of Langar Hall, Nottinghamshire was an English politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottinghamshire from 1673 to 1685 and January 1689 to 1691, and from 1710 to ...

; they had no children. She subsequently married

John Mordaunt John Mordaunt may refer to: *John Mordaunt (speaker) (d. 1504), Tudor politician and Speaker of the House of Commons *John Mordaunt, 1st Baron Mordaunt (d. 1562) *John Mordaunt, 2nd Baron Mordaunt (1508–1571) *John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborou ...

, MP.

References

* * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pembroke, Thomas Herbert, 08th Earl of 1650s births 1733 deaths Year of birth uncertain Thomas Herbert, 08th Earl of Pembroke 8

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

Fellows of the Royal Society Garter Knights appointed by William III Lord High Admirals Lord High Admirals of England Lord-Lieutenants of Brecknockshire Lord-Lieutenants of Cardiganshire Lord-Lieutenants of Carmarthenshire Lord-Lieutenants of Glamorgan Lord-Lieutenants of Monmouthshire Lord-Lieutenants of Pembrokeshire Lord-Lieutenants of Radnorshire Lord-Lieutenants of Wiltshire Lord Presidents of the Council First Lords of the Admiralty Lords Privy Seal Members of the Privy Council of England Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Presidents of the Royal Society Ambassadors of England to the Netherlands Younger sons of earls English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 Lords Lieutenant of Ireland