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Lt.-Gen. Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, 6th Earl of Montgomery (29 January 16939 January 1749) was an English peer and courtier. He was the heir and eldest son of
Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke 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 Her ...
and his first wife Margaret Sawyer. He was styled Lord Herbert from birth until he inherited his father's earldoms of Pembroke and Montgomery in 1733. He also became
Lord of the bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...
to King George II of the
House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house or ...
.


Life

Studying at
Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...
up to 1705 in a milieu of classicist architecture (its dean, Henry Aldrich, was then at work on his ''Elementa architecturae'' and on overseeing construction of the Peckwater quadrangle, Palladian before Palladianism was popular in England) he went on a
grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...
in 1712 (meeting
Lord Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his fa ...
in Naples,
William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, bu ...
in Rome, and also going to
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
). He was appointed
lord of the bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...
to George II during his time as the prince of Wales. He was made a deputy lieutenant of
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
on 29 January 1715, and was commissioned captain & lieutenant-colonel in the
Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...
on 12 August 1717. On 20 September 1721, he was promoted to the rank of
colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge ...
, and made captain & colonel of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards. Upon the accession of George II in 1727, Herbert remained his close associate, and was made first lord of the bedchamber. After acceding to the earldom on 9 January 1733, Pembroke left the Horse Guards and was appointed colonel of The King's Own Regiment of Horse (22 June 1733). Later that year (24 August), he was appointed
Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
. George II continued to favour Pembroke, who was appointed
groom of the stole The Groom of the Stool (formally styled: "Groom of the King's Close Stool") was the most intimate of an English monarch's courtiers, responsible for assisting the king in excretion and hygiene. The physical intimacy of the role naturally led to ...
on 8 January 1735 and sworn a
Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
the next day. However, he proved unsuccessful in his attempts to mediate between George and his son prince Frederick. Though he exercised powerful patronage in Wilton, his local constituency, Pembroke played only a slight role in national politics. He shared his father's antiquarian tastes (commissioning
Andrew Fountaine Andrew Fountaine (7 December 1918 – 14 September 1997) was an activist involved in the British far right. After military service in a number of conflicts Fountaine joined the Conservative Party and was selected as a parliamentary candidate u ...
to supervise the cataloguing of his father's collections), but expressed them through architecture rather than collecting. He is known to have designed seven buildings, two of which are no longer standing, these are the Earl's own house,
Pembroke House, Whitehall Pembroke House, located on Whitehall, was the London residence of the earls of Pembroke. History It was built by the architect earl Henry Herbert in 1723–24 (under Colen Campbell and latterly his assistant Roger Morris), on ground leased by t ...
of 1717, demolished 1756-7 and Wimbledon House 1732–3, Surrey for the Duchess of Marlborough, burnt down in 1785. Opinions of his talents in that area were mixed –
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...
stated that "no man had a purer taste in building" but
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...
wrote that the Earl's talent was little more than to "imitate ill whatever was useless" in
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...
and
Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of t ...
's buildings Although he designed the ''Column of Victory'' at
Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non- royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, ...
erect 1727–30 for the Duchess of Marlborough as a memorial to her late husband. As one of the "architect earls", he collaborated with Roger Morris to design Marble Hill House (1724–29), the White Lodge, Richmond (1727–28), and the Palladian Bridge over the little River Nadder at
Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...
(1736/7). He also designed the water tower at
Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Wa ...
(c.1730) in the form of a garden temple, with a pedimented portico raised on a high rusticated base. The mason William Townsend executed the Earl's design for the Column of Victory, at Blenheim Palace and the water tower at Houghton Hall. The Earl also inspected Townsend's design of Westcombe House, Blackheath, Kent (1727–28) and as well as parts of the design of Castle Hill, Devon (1729). He also redecorated a few of the rooms in the south front of
Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...
. Though he was uninvolved in its design, he also acted as an energetic promoter of the project to build Westminster Bridge, getting the relevant Act of Parliament through in 1738, laying the first stone in January 1739 (and the last stone of the main structure in 1747), attending 120 meetings of the bridge commissioners (the last on the morning of his death), and consistently supporting its designer Charles Labelye and his caisson design against long and fierce opposition (after the subsidence of one pier in 1747, ''The Downfall of Westminster Bridge, or, My Lord in the Suds'' mocked him for this support, but he was ultimately vindicated). Lord Pembroke enjoyed swimming, played tennis every day, generally remained continually active and healthy, and (as seen in Roubiliac's portrait bust of him at Wilton) was strong and powerfully built. He seems to have developed asthma (Walpole mentions this in his detailed account of the Earl's death) and spent some weeks at Bath in winter 1743, during which he experienced breathing difficulties. Pembroke was promoted
lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
on 18 February 1742, and became a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...
on 15 December 1743. During the king's trip to
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
in 1748, he served as one of the Lord Justices. He died at Pembroke House in 1750.


Diet

Herbert attempted to live on a diet of only
beetroot The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden bee ...
and
watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf v ...
which he kept in a bag wig and used as a knapsack.Lees-Milne, James. (1962). ''Earls of Creation: Five Great Patrons of Eighteenth-century Art''. Penguin Books. p. 67Richardson, Tim. (2015). ''The Arcadian Friends: Inventing the English Landscape Garden''. Bantam Press. p. 242. In 1729, he was seen walking the streets of Paris with his bag wig eating beetroot and watercress at regular intervals. He nearly died because of the diet. He has been described as a "pioneer vegetarian" and a "proto-vegan".''The Literary Review'', 2006
James Lees-Milne (George) James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extensi ...
noted that Herbert "became a fanatical vegetarian to the extent of practically starving himself to death."


Marriage and issue

He and Mary FitzWilliam (eldest daughter of
Richard FitzWilliam, 5th Viscount FitzWilliam Richard FitzWilliam, 5th Viscount FitzWilliam, PC (Ireland) (c. 1677 – 6 June 1743), of Mount Merrion in Dublin, was an Irish nobleman and politician. Origins He was the only son of Thomas FitzWilliam, 4th Viscount FitzWilliam by his first ...
and Frances Shelley), married on 28 August 1733. They only had one child, Henry, who inherited his father's earldoms. When the Fitzwilliam family died out in the male line in 1833, the Pembroke family inherited large estates in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
; they are still substantial landowners there.


Gallery of architectural works

File:Blenheim Column of Victory.JPG, Column of Victory, Blenheim Palace File:Marble Hill House-River(south)front.jpg, Marble Hill House File:PALLADIAN_BRIDGE_DSC_8754.jpg, Palladian bridge File:White Lodge.jpg, White Lodge


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pembroke, Henry Herbert, 09th Earl of 1693 births 1749 deaths Henry Herbert, 09th Earl of Pembroke 1st King's Dragoon Guards officers British Army generals British Life Guards officers Coldstream Guards officers Deputy Lieutenants of Worcestershire 9 Henry 18th-century English architects Fellows of the Royal Society Lord-Lieutenants of Wiltshire Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Proto-vegans Grooms of the Stool Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Court of George II of Great Britain