Herbert tomb, St John the Baptist church, Cardiff - 2022-08-19

Sir John Herbert (1550 – 9 July 1617) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

lawyer, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1586 and 1611. He was Secretary of State under

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

and

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

Life

Herbert was the son of Matthew Herbert of SwanseaW R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> and was descended from an illegitimate son of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. Herbert may have been educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, although this is questioned. He was admitted an honorary member of the

College of Doctors of Law Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law (legal system), civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyer ...

in November 1573 and awarded MA. He was a commissioner of the High Court of Admiralty from 1575 to 1584 (with David Lewis) and

Master of Requests Master of Requests, from the Latin Requestarum Magister, is an office that developed in several European systems of law and government in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Holders of the title had the responsibility of presenting pe ...

from 1586 to 1601 (with William Aubrey from 1590). Queen Elizabeth appointed him secretary to the Council of the North and Keeper of Signet. In 1586, Herbert was elected

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

Grampound Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...

. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Civil Law by the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1587. In 1588, he was elected MP for Gatton. He was elected MP for

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1593 and MP for

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

in 1597. In April 1600, he was appointed second Secretary of State and a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. In 1601 he was elected MP for

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

and for Wallingford and chose to sit for Glamorgan. Besides serving in Parliament, he also was appointed as Dean of Wells in 1590, and served until late 1602. He was knighted in 1602. In 1604 he was elected MP for

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

and sat until 1611. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Glamorgan This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires wh ...

for 1605 and in 1607 appointed

Chancellor of the Order of the Garter The Chancellor of the Order of the Garter is an officer of the Order of the Garter. History of the office When the Order of the Garter was founded in 1348 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by Edward III of England three officers were initiall ...

for life. Herbert was a talented linguist (not just speaking English and

) and so was used to interrogate foreign prisoners and on trade and political missions to Denmark, Poland, Brandenburg, the Netherlands and France. He continued in office under

, although James preferred to use unofficial secretaries such as

Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery, (10 October 158423 January 1650) was an English courtier, nobleman, and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I. Philip and his older brother William were ...

. When

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart period, Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury s ...

died in 1612, Herbert hoped to succeed him as principal secretary of state, but James I left the office vacant until 1614. He was thereafter Secretary of State in name only. Herbert was of Neath Abbey. He died in Cardiff aged 67 on 9 July 1617, having fought a duel with Sir Lewis Tresham two months earlier. Herbert married Margaret Morgan, daughter of William Morgan of Cefn Coch.

French embassy of 1598

Herbert,

Sir Robert Cecil Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...

, and

Thomas Wilkes Sir Thomas Wilkes (c.1545 – 2 March 1598 ( N.S in Rouen)) was an English civil servant and diplomat during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. He served as Clerk of the Privy Council, Member of Parliament for Downton and Southampton, and ...

were chosen as ambassadors to France in January 1598 to discuss peace with France and Spain. Wilkes died soon after arrival at Rouen. Cecil and Herbert lodged at a house of the

Duke of Montpensier The French lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordshi ...

in Paris, and subsequently travelled south to meet

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

at Angers in March. They had their final audiences with the king at

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

and the Duke de Bouillon gave Cecil a locket with the king's portrait. They sailed home to Portsmouth from

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mo ...

, a port near

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Welsh diplomats John Secretaries of State of the Kingdom of England 1550 births 1617 deaths People of the Elizabethan era Chancellors of the Order of the Garter Welsh lawyers 16th-century Welsh politicians 17th-century Welsh politicians Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Deans of Wells Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611