George Sidney Herbert


Colonel the Hon. Sir George Sidney Herbert, 1st Baronet was an English businessman and member of the Royal Household.

Early life and education

George Sidney Herbert was born on 8 October 1886. He was the fourth of four children, and the second of two sons, born to Lady Beatrix Louisa Lambton and Sidney Herbert, the 14th ; his brother Reginald would become the 15th. George Herbert was educated at Eton, and then Magdalen College at the University of Oxford.
In 1902 Herbert served as his father's page at the Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra, walking behind his father and carrying his coronet during the king and queen's procession.

Career

From 1914 to 1919, Herbert served as a colonel in the First World War. Later, he served as the director of the Wilton Royal Carpet Factory, of Wessex Associated News Ltd, and of Western Gazette Co. Ltd. He also served as a local director for Liverpool, London & Globe Insurance Co. Ltd.
Herbert became part of the Royal Household in 1928, with his appointment as a Gentleman Usher to King George V. His appointment continued during the reigns of Edward VIII and George VI in turn; in 1936 was named an aide-de-camp to the king, and the following year a groom in waiting. As part of the 1937 New Year Honours 1937 he was created a baronet, "for political and public services in Wiltshire".

Personal life

Herbert lived in East Knoyle, at Knoyle House. He enjoyed gardening, shooting for recreation, and was a member of the Carlton Club. He was the cousin of Sir Sidney Herbert, and served along with Vivian Smith as executor for his estate upon his 1939 death. George Herbert was himself bequeathed £40,000, along with a life estate to Boyton Manor Estate and £50,000 for its upkeep; his responsibilities as executor also included attending to a locked tin deed box, which the will requested be "destroyed unopened by cremating".
Herbert died suddenly on 30 January 1942; he had a heart attack while en route to Bath, Somerset and died at a nursing home in the city that his chauffeur drove him to. He left an unsettled estate of £71,085 15s 2d, with net personalty £70,045 7s 10d. After £22,075 in taxes he bequeathed £500 to Salisbury Division Conservative Association, and £250 each to a butler, gardener, chauffeur, and keeper; the remaining £41,000 he left to his mother for life, and then to the family member living at Boyton. A bachelor, he left no heir to his baronetcy.