Pembroke Road in Salisbury and Pembroke Court in Wilton are, in all likelihood, named after the Earls of Pembroke – the Herbert family, who have owned Wilton House since the 16th century.
The Herbert family represent the ’10th creation’ of the Earldom of Pembroke, that is to say, the line of Earls of Pembroke has died out in the past and been re-created nine times.
Potted Pembrokes
There’s a lot more detail below, and there’s more detail still if you follow the links, but the following shows the ‘Earls of Pembroke In a Nutshell’ (with apologies to O’Reilly books).
| 1st | William | 1507-1570 | brilliant politician/courtier. Given Wilton estate by Henry VIII | |
| 2nd | Henry | 1538-1601 | patron of the arts. Husband of Mary Sidney, possibly the ‘real Shakespeare’ | |
| 3rd | William | 1580-1630 | fell from grace under Elizabeth I, but close friend of James I. Probably Shakespeare’s Mr W.H. | |
| 4th | Philip | 1584-1650 | Van Dyck’s patron. Moderate parliamentarian during the Civil War | |
| 5th | Philip | 1621-1669 | MP for Wiltshire and Glamorgan. Pepys called him ‘pious’ | |
| 6th | William | 1642-1674 | MP for Glamorgan | |
| 7th | Philip | 1652-1683 | the ‘infamous seventh earl’. Convicted of murder but invoked ‘privilege of peerage’ | |
| 8th | Thomas | 1656-1732 | ambiguous role in the so-called Glorious Revolution. Friend of John Locke | |
| 9th | Henry | 1693-1750 | interest in Palladian architecture. Built the Palladian bridge in the garden. | |
| 10th | Henry | 1734-1794 | ‘horse mad’ | |
| 11th | George | 1759-1827 | fought in French revolutionary wars | |
| 12th | Robert | 1791-1862 | legally questionable marriage to a Sicilian princess. Disinherited by father | |
| 13th | George | 1850-1895 | shipwrecked near Fiji. In Disraeli’s government | |
| 14th | Sidney | 1853-1913 | MP for both Wilton and Croydon | |
| 15th | Reginald | 1880-1960 | served at the Foreign Office during World War II | |
| 16th | Sidney | 1906-1969 | scholar. On boards of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery | |
| 17th | Henry | 1939-2003 | film maker. Made films about Hendrix, Otis Redding and Stephen Tennant | |
| 18th | William | 1978-date | designer for Sebastian Conran |
William Herbert, the first Earl of Pembroke
The first of the current line of Earls of Pembroke was William Herbert who lived from 1506 or 1507 until 1570.
William was descended from a previous line of Earls of Pembroke who were based at Raglan Castle in Monmouthshire in South Wales.[1] Somewhat confusingly his grandfather was also William Herbert, and also the first Earl of Pembroke – he had been granted the title by Edward IV in 1462 for defeating the Lancastrians in Wales, but the Earldom died out with the childless death of his son in 1490.
William Herbert was given the estate at Wilton by Henry VIII [2], who had taken the land from the Church. William was the brother in law of Catherine Parr, Henry’s last wife. From this piece of information you might infer that William Herbert was simply lucky to be in the right place at the right time – having a family connection to King Henry at a time when Henry was ‘divvying up’ the land he had taken from the church.
There may be some truth in this, but, reading Herbert’s biography, you are struck by what an impressive man he was.
William Herbert as a politician
Herbert was impressive as a politician, in the sense that he managed to both survive and prosper under the rule of four very different monarchs – Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Mary and Elizabeth I. A further testament to his political skill is that he sometimes seems to have ‘backed the wrong horse’ – especially in supporting Lady Jane Grey and then Mary, Queen of Scots – but he seems to have been able to back track his way out of any resultant problems.
I don’t know much about this period of history, really, but just considering the number of people who fell foul of the monarchy for one reason or another during this period, and either lost their land or their lives [3], Herbert’s achievement in just surviving does seem significant.
An advantage for William was his Erastianism – the belief that the monarch ruled by the grace of God, and was therefore properly responsible for determining the spiritual direction of the country.
William Herbert as a soldier
Herbert seems to have been effective as a soldier, both abroad and at home. In 1549, he put down rebels in Wiltshire – Edward VI wrote that ‘Sir William Herbert did put them down, overrun, and slay them’ [4]
Herbert’s wealth
Herbert seems to have been impressive on a personal level, if for no other reason than his immense wealth and his flair for displaying it.
He built the house at Wilton, supposedly after consulting Holbein (although there is some doubt about this).
He travelled in some style. When Mary of Guise visited London, Herbert escorted her ‘with 100 horsemen, their cotes gardy[d] with velvet, and chynes, hats and whyt fethers, and every [man] havyng a new gayffelins [javelin] in ther hands, and a bage [badge]‘ [5].
Henry Herbert, second Earl of Pembroke and Mary Sidney
Henry Herbert lived from around 1538 until 1601.
The second Earl was much less successful politically than his predecessor.
The major theme to his life, at least as far as it can be discerned now, is his involvement in ‘the arts’, both on his own account, and through his wife and brother-in-law, Mary and Philip Sidney.
Pembroke himself was the patron of Burbage’s theatre company, and he seems to have wholeheartedly supported the Sidneys’ activities.
Aubrey wrote of Mary Sidney that
Wilton House was like a college, there were so many and ingenious persons. She was the greatest patroness of wit and learning of any lady in her time[6]
Philip Sidney wrote ‘Arcadia’ while staying at Wilton House, and Mary Sidney herself has been suggested as the author of the works attributed to William Shakespeare.
The claim that Mary Sidney herself ‘was’ Shakespeare is perhaps best represented today by the work of Robin Williams [7].
Mary Sidney is also identified as a possible source of the Shakespeare canon by the Shakespeare Authorship Trust [8]. I am in no way qualified to express even the most tentative opinion on this, but the chairman of the Shakespeare Authorship Trust is Mark Rylance, who was artistic director of the re-built Globe Theatre, so I would assume that the question can certainly be taken seriously.
William Herbert, third earl of Pembroke
William Herbert, the third earl lived from 1580 to 1630.
The Dictionary of National Biography sums him up as a ‘courtier and patron of the arts’.
William Herbert as a courtier
He was successful at court until 1601. William had had an affair with a fellow courtier, Mary Fitton – believed by some to be the inspiration for the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Mary fell pregnant in 1600, but William refused to marry her.
The pregnancy, and William’s refusal to marry Mary came to the attention of Queen Elizabeth. She had William imprisoned in Fleet Prison for a month, then banished from the court. He did not return until after Elizabeth’s death.
William seems however to have been a close friend of Elizabeth’s successor, King James. The Venetian ambassador noted at the coronation that
“The earl of Pembroke, a handsome youth, who is always with the king and always joking with him, actually kissed His Majesty’s face, whereupon the king laughed and gave him a little cuff”[9]
The Dictionary of National Biography also records the king putting a live frog down the back of William’s shirt during one of his stays at Wilton, and William retaliating by sneaking a pig into the King’s ‘close stool’. I assume ‘close stool’ means toilet (or lavatory, or rest room).
William was, though, serious as a courtier/politician. He had conflicts with other courtiers for much of his life, especially the Earl of Somerset, and then the Duke of Buckingham. There is much more detail at the Dictionary of National Biography.
William Herbert as a patron of the arts
William maintained the family tradition of generously patronizing the arts.
He is widely identified as ‘W.H.’ – the dedicatee of some of Shakespeare’s sonnets [10]. I believe some sonnets were dedicated to ‘W.H.W.H’, which you might interpret as William Herbert, Wilton House’, but I’ve not been able to find a reference for that.
In addition to the Shakespearean connection, Herbert patronised among many others, Ben Johnson, Inigo Jones, and of course, his relation George Herbert, who was installed at the church at Bemerton.
Philip Herbert, the fourth earl of Pembroke
Philip Herbert was William’s younger brother. He lived from 1584 to 1650.
In many ways Philip Herbert was similar, in the literature, to his brother.
He was a successful courtier – especially under James I, and he was also a significant patron of the arts – Shakespeare’s first folio was dedicated to the “incomparable pair of brethren”, William and Philip.[11]
Perhaps to a greater extent than William, Philip was particularly interested in painting and architecture – Philip was a patron of Anthony Van Dyck, and he consulted with Inigo Jones on the re-building of Wilton House.
Philip Herbert and the civil war
Philip is seen as a moderate parliamentarian.
He was honoured by the parliamentarians (he became Governor of the Isle of Wight in 1642, and was elevated to the status of duke), but was used by the parliamentarians to conduct negotiations with the King in 1643.
Although he had some connection with a group supporting the New Model Army in the early 1640s, he became one of its fiercest critics by 1646, which fits in with both his moderate-ness as a parliamentarian, and his connections with London and the South.
In 1649 Philip was appointed to the High Court of Justice which tried King Charles I for treason, but he refused to participate.
Philip himself died later in 1649.
Philip Herbert, the 5th Earl of Pembroke
‘Philip the 5th’ lived from 1621 to 1629 [12]
Samuel Pepys said he was ‘pious’. [13]
William Herbert, 6th Earl of Pembroke
The eldest of three brothers who were to become Earl of Pembroke. He was MP for Glamorgan from 1661-1669[14]
He lived from 1642-1674.
Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke
Philip lived from 1652 to 1683.
The Dictionary of National Biography titles a brief section on the seventh earl as ‘the infamous seventh earl’[15].
The Dictionary quotes Aubrey as saying
that Pembroke had ?at Wilton 52 mastives and 30 grey-hounds, some beares, and a lyon, and a matter of 60 fellowes more bestial then they?
He was imprisoned in the Tower for swearing – ‘uttering such horrid and blasphemous words’.
He killed at least two people in fights, and I think only escaped execution for murder by claiming ‘his privilege of peerage’[16].
Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke
Thomas, the 8th Earl lived from 1656 until 1732.
Thomas Herbert was the Tory (Conservative) Member of Parliament for Wilton. He was not an active politician – he never made a speech in Parliament – but he was a friend of the political philosopher John Locke [17].
In 1685, he commanded troops opposing Monmouth’s rebellion.
During the so-called revolution of 1688, Herbert played ‘the ambiguous role of the moderate Tory’, corresponding with William of Orange, while still offering his services to King James.
There is some sort of theme here perhaps. From the first earl’s negotiation of the religious changes of the 16th century, to the fourth earl who was a moderate parliamentarian carrying on discussions with the King, to the eighth earl maintaining good relations with both the English James and the Dutch William.
Thomas maintained the family tradition of sponsoring the Arts, as well as science. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and Gilbert Burnet said he was ‘of great and profound learning, particularly in the mathematics’[18].
Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke
Henry lived from 1693 until 1750.
Henry Herbert was most distinguished by his interest in architecture, and his association with the Palladian style.
The DNB [19] tells us that he studied at Oxford whilst the ‘precociously Palladian Peckwater quadrangle was being built’.
Henry travelled Europe in 1712, visiting both Rome and Venice.
He was closely involved in the building of Westcombe House in Blackheath, and Marble Hill in Twickenham. It seems that he contributed to the design of both.
He had the famous Palladian bridge built in the grounds of Wilton House – according to George Vertue it was ‘the design of the present Earl and built by his direction’, although this may not be entirely accurate.
He was also heavily involved in the building of the 1747 Westminster Bridge.
Horace Walpole said ‘no man had a purer taste in building’
Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke
Henry Herbert, the tenth earl was a military man, but his defining characteristic, at least at this distance, seems to be that he was ‘horse mad’[20].
He wrote an influential book ‘A Method of Breaking Horses, and Teaching Soldiers to Ride’, which was published in 1761.
George III and Queen Charlotte visited Wilton in 1778.
He lived from 1734 to 1794.
George Augustus Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke
George Herbert lived from 1759 to 1827.
Like his father he was a military man, playing some part in the French revolutionary wars, including battles at Flanders and Dunkirk, and the siege of Valenciennes in 1793. [21]
He married Catherine Romanovich, the daughter of the Russian ambassador in 1808, whose love for Italian architecture was later to inspire the Italianate Church of Saint Mary and Nicholas in Wilton.
Robert Henry Herbert, 12th Earl of Pembroke
Robert Herbert lived from 1791 to 1862.
He might be said to have had an interesting life. As a young man he travelled to Sicily, and became involved with a Sicilian princess Ottavia Spinelli.
The princess was widowed shortly after Hebert’s arrival – there is a suggestion that she was already his mistress at that time.
The wedding was not entirely legitimate. George Herbert, Robert’s father, attempted to have the marriage dissolved. He didn’t fully succeed in this, but did get his son and daughter in law separately imprisoned.
The relationship disintegrated and the legal position was questionable – Herbert was described, I think in court, as “with a wife and no wife”[22].
George Herbert effectively disinherited Robert. On George’s death, Robert inherited the titles, including Earl of Pembroke, but not any of the property.
Robert lived for most of the rest of his life in Paris. Because he had no legitimate children the title of Earl of Pembroke passed to his nephew George.
George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke
George Herbert is probably best known as a traveller. He sailed the South Seas with Dr George Henry Kingsley (the brother of Charles Kingsley, who wrote Westward Ho! and The Water Babies) in the 1860s.
They were shipwrecked on a desert island near Fiji, set sail again and were eventually rescued by a Swedish schooner. [23].
George Herbert and Dr Kingsley published an account of their adventures as ‘South Sea Bubbles, by the Earl and the Doctor’.
George Herbert was also active in politics, serving in Disraeli’s second government as Under-Secretary for War from 1874 to 1875. [24]
He lived from 1850-1895.
Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke
Sidney Herbert lived from 1853-1913.
Sidney was also a politician, representing Wilton from 1877 to 1885, when, he lost the seat. He was then elected MP for Croydon.
I don’t know whether the adoption of Sidney as a family name for the Herberts is a reference to Mary Sidney, the wife of the second earl, however I’m afraid I do need to mention that the initial and surname spell sherbert.
Reginald Herbert, 15th Earl of Pembroke
Reginald Herbert lived from 1880 to 1960.
He worked at the foreign office during World War II.
He lived from 1880 to 1960.
Sidney Herbert, 16th Earl of Pembroke
Sidney Herbert was described as:
a gentle character and a scholar deeply interested in the arts who served as a trustee of both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery[25]
He lived from 1906-1969.
Henry Herbert, 17th Earl of Pembroke
Henry Herbert was associated with an artistic London group of people who included David Hockney and Jean Shrimpton.
He became a film-maker, starting as a ‘glorified tea-boy’ on the 1965 ‘Heroes of the Telemark’.
Subsequent to this he made documentaries about musicians Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix, and the writer Stephen Tennant[26].
To celebrate the birth of a male heir, Henry held a party in 1979 which was attended by the Prince of Wales and Cecil Beaton.
He lived from 1939 to 2003
William Alexander Sidney Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke
The current Earl of Pembroke was born in 1978.
He studied 3D design at college, then worked as a designer for Sebastian Conran.
There is an interesting interview with him in the Guardian by Lynn Barber [27].
Visiting Salisbury or Wilton?
For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.
Footnotes
- Incidentally, I had a good friend who was evacuated to Raglan during the war. He always pronounced ‘Raglan’ as ‘Ragland’, with a ‘d’. I’ve always assumed this was a personal quirk of pronunciation, but while researching this post I found numerous occurrences of the spelling ‘Ragland’. For example, Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland by Rev Morriss or Collins’s Peerage of England [↩]
- Narasingha P. Sil, Herbert, William, first earl of Pembroke (1506/7-1570), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13055, accessed 23 Feb 200921 Feb 2009] [↩]
- The list of politicians and courtiers who were executed during this period would be very long. It would include, for example, Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn and her brother George, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, Henry Earl of Surrey, Saint Margaret Clitheroe, Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey [↩]
- Narasingha P. Sil, Herbert, William, first earl of Pembroke (1506/1570) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13055, accessed 23 Feb 200921 Feb 2009] [↩]
- Narasingha P. Sil, Herbert, William, first earl of Pembroke (1506/1570) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13055, accessed 23 Feb 200921 Feb 2009] [↩]
- Penry Williams, Herbert, Henry, second earl of Pembroke (b. in or after 1538, d. 1601), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13028, accessed 9 March 200921 Feb 2009] [↩]
- See the Newsweek article Was the bard a woman? and her website www.marysidney.com [↩]
- href=”http://www.shakespeareanauthorshiptrust.org.uk/pages/candidates.htm”>Candidates
[↩] - Victor Stater, Herbert, William, third earl of Pembroke (1580-1630), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13058, accessed 11 March 200921 Feb 2009] [↩]
- Wikipedia article [↩]
- Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [↩]
- Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [↩]
- Monday 10 October 1664 (Pepys’ Diary) [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, Thomas [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, Philip [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, Philip [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, Thomas [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, Thomas [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, Henry [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, Henry [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, George Augustus [↩]
- Alexina Sophia Gallot [↩]
- Oxford DNB article: Herbert, George Robert Charles [↩]
- George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [↩]
- The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery – Telegraph [↩]
- The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery – Telegraph [↩]
- Lynn Barber meets the 18th earl of Pembroke short of just one thing – an heir | UK news | The Observer [↩]
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