Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, KG (22 March 1785 – 17 January 1848), styled Viscount Clive between 1804 and 1839, was a British peer and

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician. He was the grandson of Clive of India.

Early life

Edward was born on 22 March 1785, the son of

Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis, (7 March 1754 – 16 May 1839), known as the Lord Clive between 1774 and 1804, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1794 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Clive. E ...

, and his wife, the former Henrietta Herbert. He was one of four children. His younger brother, Robert Henry Clive, was a noted politician. His elder sister, Henrietta, was the wife of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet. His younger sister, Charlotte, was the wife of Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland, and she was famously the governess of the future

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. Edward was educated at Eton and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, graduating as M.A. in 1806 and being awarded LL.D. by the same university in 1835. He also became an honorary D.C.L. from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1844, the year he also became a Knight of the Garter

Peerage and estates

After 1804, when his father was created Earl of Powis, he was known by the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

of Viscount Clive, his father's second title. In 1806, he became a Member of Parliament for

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

, retaining the seat until he inherited the earldom and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He was also heir to his uncle George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, who had died unmarried in 1801, and inherited the

Powis Castle Powis Castle () is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former ...

estates on condition that he assume the name and arms of Herbert only in lieu of those of Clive, which he did by

Royal licence Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roy ...

on 9 March 1807; other conditions were that he should settle his uncle's large gambling debts and that his father should leave the Clive estates to his younger son, Robert Henry Clive.

Career

On 29 November 1808 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the Eastern Montgomeryshire Local Militia, which existed until 1816. Powis also had long service in the Shropshire Yeomanry. In 1807 he was appointed major in command of a troop raised from

and

Bishop's Castle Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales–England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of ...

towns, which merged into a larger South Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry regiment in 1814.Gladstone, pp. 16–7. He continued under command within the new regiment, to which he succeeded as lieutenant-colonel in 1827.Gladstone, p. 24. Succeeding his father as Lord-Lieutenant of

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

in 1830, Powis played a leading role in the suppression of the Chartist riots of 1839, himself deploying four troops of his own regiment to disperse rioters from Newtown and apprehend some ringleaders while the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry were deployed in other parts of the same county.Gladstone, pp. 42–43. In addition to his yeomanry regiment, he was

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

commanding the Royal Montgomeryshire Militia from 1846 to his death.''Complete Peerage'', pp, 653–4. In 1812, as Viscount Clive, he served as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

.Keeling-Roberts, p. xi. The Earl was a

bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...

who built up by 1816 a book collection in Powis Castle sourced from travels in France, purchased partly from booksellers and partly from an auction of Empress Joséphine's library at Malmaison.Powis Castle guidebook. He was elected to the Roxburghe Club in 1828 and became President in 1835, the year he sponsored their publication of ''The Lyvys of Seyntys'' (i.e. The Lives of Saints). A defender of

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

interests in Wales, in the Lords he led a successful opposition over 1843 to 1847 to a proposal to unite the sees of Bangor and

St Asaph St Asaph (; "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population ...

. He was ultimately appointed to a Royal Commission on English and Welsh bishoprics. A sum of £5,000 raised in testimonial to him was devoted to found the Powis Exhibitions to assist Welsh students at Oxford and Cambridge Universities intending to take holy orders. In 1847, he stood for

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

as Chancellor of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, but was defeated by only 117 votes by

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria. As such, he was consort of the British monarch from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his ...

. An encourager of canal building in Shropshire and into Montgomeryshire, he was at the time of his death Chairman of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company.

Personal life

On 9 February 1818, Powis married Lady Lucy Graham, the daughter of James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, and they had seven children, five boys and two girls: * Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis (1818–1891), who died unmarried. * Percy Egerton Herbert (1822–1876), who in 1860 married Lady Mary Petty-FitzMaurice, only child of Earl of Kerry, the eldest son of the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne. They were the parents of the 4th Earl of Powis. *

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotio ...

(1825–1894), who married Elizabeth Beatrice Sykes, fourth daughter of Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet, and Mary Anne Foulis (second daughter of Sir William Foulis, 7th Baronet), in 1863. * Robert Charles Herbert (1827–1902), who married Anna Maria Cludde, only child and heiress of Edward Cludde and Catherine Harriett Cockburn (only daughter of Lt.-Gen. Sir William Cockburn, 6th Baronet), in 1854. He was the grandfather of the 5th and the 6th Earl of Powis. * William Henry Herbert (1834–1909), who married Sybella Augusta Milbank, eldest daughter and coheiress of Mark William Vane Milbank (grandson of William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland) and Barbarina Sophia Farquhar (a daughter of Sir Thomas Farquhar, 2nd Baronet), in 1871. * Lady Lucy Caroline Herbert (d. 1884), who married Frederick Calvert in 1865. * Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Herbert (d. 1906), who married Hugh Montgomery in 1846. The Earl of Powis died on 17 January 1848 at Powis Castle after being accidentally shot during a pheasant hunt by one of his sons, the Hon. George Herbert, later a clergyman and

Dean of Hereford The Dean of Hereford is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Hereford Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Blessed Virgin Mary and St Et ...

. He was buried at St Mary's Parish Church,

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

Descendants

Through his second son Percy, he was a grandfather of George Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis, who married Violet Lane-Fox (youngest daughter of Sackville Lane-Fox, 12th Baron Conyers).

References

Bibliography

* George E. Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage'', Vol X, St Catherine's Press, 1945. * * * * Bryn Owen, ''History of the Welsh Militia and Volunteer Corps 1757–1908: Montgomeryshire Regiments of Militia, Volunteers and Yeomanry Cavalry'', Wrexham: Bridge Books, 2000,

External links

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...