Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon


Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon PC, known as The Lord Porchester from 1780 to 1793, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1780 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Porchester. He served as Master of the Horse from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents headed by Lord Grenville.

Background and education

Herbert was the son of Major-General the Honourable William Herbert, fifth son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke. His mother was Catherine Elizabeth Tewes. Educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge, he inherited Highclere Castle from his uncle the Honourable Robert Sawyer Herbert in 1769.

Political career

Herbert sat in the House of Commons as one of two representatives for Wilton from 1768 to 1780. The latter year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Porchester, of Highclere in the County of Southampton. In 1793 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of the Town and County of Carnarvon, in the Principality of Wales. He later served as Master of the Horse from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents headed by Lord Grenville and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1806.

Marriage and progeny

On 15 July 1771 Lord Carnarvon married Lady Elizabeth Alicia Maria Wyndham a daughter of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, by whom he had five sons and one daughter:
Carnarvon died in June 1811, aged 69.