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 and Anne.

Background

Herbert was the third son of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke and his wife Catharine Villiers, daughter of Sir William Villiers, 1st Baronet who was the half-brother of the 1st Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers. Through his grandmother,

Susan de Vere Susan Herbert (née de Vere), Countess of Montgomery (26 May 1587 – 1629), was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England, Anne of Denmark. She was the youngest daughter of Elizabethan court ...

, 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 o ...

, 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, Wilton House 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 o ...

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. T ...

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 in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, ...

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 wor ...

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 ...

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, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lord ...

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 King ...

, while he acted as one of the Lords Justices seven times; and he was President of the Royal Society 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 Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...

's '' An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' 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 by his wife Margaret Suckeley, by whom he had seven sons and five daughters: ** Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke (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 Highclere Castle **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 Highclere Castle 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 Park (then in Devon but now in Cornwall) was an English politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 to 1726. Early life Morice was the eldest surviving son ...

**Lady Margaret Herbert (died 15 December 1752) **Lady Elizabeth Herbert **Lady Anne Herbert **Lady Rebecca Herbert, wife of

William Nevill, 16th Baron Bergavenny William Nevill, ''de facto'' 16th (''de jure'' 1st) Baron Bergavenny, (before 1701 – 1744) was an English peer who held office in the British Royal Household and built a country mansion. Life The son of Edward Nevill (1664-1701), a Captain in ...

*Secondly in 1708 he married Barbara Slingsby (died 1 August 1721), daughter of Sir Thomas Slingsby, 2nd Baronet and widow of John Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice (1649–1698), of Trerice, 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; they had no children. She subsequently married John Mordaunt, 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 A ...

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