Richard Herbert, 2nd Baron Herbert of Chirbury
Encyclopedia
Richard Herbert, 2nd Baron Herbert of Chirbury (c. 1604 – 13 May 1655) was an Anglo-Welsh
Member of Parliament
, a Royalist
who fought with the rank of Colonel
in the English Civil War
, and a peer
whose membership of the House of Lords
was curtailed by its abolition in 1649.
, of Montgomery Castle
, and of Mary, the daughter and heiress of Sir William Herbert (d. 1593), both members of a collateral branch of the family of the Earls of Pembroke
. He was born while his father was under the age of twenty-one.
On 19 November 1627 at Bridgwater House, Barbican
, City of London
, Herbert married Lady Mary Egerton (c. 1604–1659), one of the five daughters of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgwater. Their children were two sons, Edward and Henry, and two daughters, Frances and Florence.
As the result of his marriage, Herbert was the brother-in-law of David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter
(c. 1600–1643), Sir John Hobart
(1593–1647), Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery
(c. 1600–1686), Oliver St John, 5th Baron St John of Bletso
(d. 1642), and John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater
(1623–1686).
A Royalist
, in March 1640 Herbert was elected to the Commons
in the Short Parliament
representing Montgomeryshire
. In October of the same year, at the outset of the Long Parliament
, he was elected from Montgomery
. He was appointed Royal Governor of Bridgnorth
in 1642, as the English Civil War
was breaking out. At his own expense, in the king's cause he raised both a foot
regiment
and a troop
of horse
, and the king gave him the rank of Colonel
. On 12 October 1642 he was disabled from sitting in parliament, on account of having executed the Commission of Array
in Shropshire
and of joining the king
at Oxford
. In 1643, he graduated Master of Arts of the University of Oxford
and became Governor of Ludlow
.
In July 1643, Colonel Richard Herbert, in command of his regiment, was with Prince Rupert of the Rhine
at the capture of Bristol
.
On 5 September 1644 Herbert's father Lord Herbert surrendered the family seat of Montgomery Castle, by negotiation, to parliamentary forces
led by Sir Thomas Myddelton
. The older Herbert returned to London, submitted to parliament, and received a pension of £20 a week, while the Castle was subsequently slighted
.
Herbert was Governor of Aberystwyth
in 1644 and of Newport
in 1645, but he took the Negative Oath and on 6 March 1647 "petitioned to compound", with the result that he was fined £1,000 as the price of making his peace with parliament.
When Herbert's father died on 20 August 1648, he inherited his father's titles, Baron Herbert of Castle Island in the peerage of Ireland
and Baron Herbert of Chirbury
in the peerage of England
, but little else. His younger brother, Edward, received the manor
of Llyssin for life, while his own son, another Edward, received his grandfather's books and most of his personal property. Herbert himself, the elder son, got only his father's horses and was instructed to "make much of the white horse", while his wife, the new Lady Herbert, was bequeathed her father-in-law's viol
s and lute
s.
He was briefly a member of the House of Lords
, until on 19 March 1649 it was abolished by an Act of Parliament that declared that "The Commons of England find by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England". The Lords did not meet again until the Convention Parliament of 1660.
Herbert succeeded his father as Chief Forester of Snowdon
. He died on 13 May 1655 and was buried at Montgomery.
, and of Urania Herbert (died 1776), who married the Member of Parliament
Coulson Fellowes. She left two sons and a daughter, Urania Fellowes, who married John Wallop, 2nd Earl of Portsmouth
(1742–1797).
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, a Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
who fought with the rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, and a peer
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
whose membership of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
was curtailed by its abolition in 1649.
Life
Herbert, born about 1604, was the elder son of the poet Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of CherburyEdward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury
Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Chirbury was an Anglo-Welsh soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher of the Kingdom of England.-Early life:...
, of Montgomery Castle
Montgomery Castle
Montgomery Castle is a stone masonry castle looking over the town of Montgomery in Powys, mid Wales. It is one of many Norman castles on the border between Wales and England.- Motte & Bailey Castle :...
, and of Mary, the daughter and heiress of Sir William Herbert (d. 1593), both members of a collateral branch of the family of the Earls of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...
. He was born while his father was under the age of twenty-one.
On 19 November 1627 at Bridgwater House, Barbican
Barbican Estate
The Barbican Estate is a residential estate built during the 1960s and the 1970s in the City of London, in an area once devastated by World War II bombings and today densely populated by financial institutions...
, City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, Herbert married Lady Mary Egerton (c. 1604–1659), one of the five daughters of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgwater. Their children were two sons, Edward and Henry, and two daughters, Frances and Florence.
As the result of his marriage, Herbert was the brother-in-law of David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter
David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter
David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter was an English peer and member of the House of Lords.-Life:David Cecil was the son of Sir Richard Cecil of Wakerley, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, and admitted at Lincoln's Inn in 1627. In 1640, he sat for Peterborough in the Short...
(c. 1600–1643), Sir John Hobart
Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet
Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet was an English politician and baronet.-Background:Born in Norwich, he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Baronet and his wife Dorothy Bell, daughter of Sir Robert Bell. His younger brother was Miles Hobart...
(1593–1647), Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery
Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery
Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery KB, PC , styled The Honourable from 1621 until 1628 and then Lord Vaughan until 1634, was a Welsh soldier, peer and politician...
(c. 1600–1686), Oliver St John, 5th Baron St John of Bletso
Baron St John of Bletso
Baron St John of Bletso, in the County of Bedford, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1582 for Oliver St John.For a period, the title Baron St John was subsumed within the title Earl of Bolingbroke which was granted to the fourth Baron. The Earldom died out with the third Earl,...
(d. 1642), and John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater
John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater
John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater PC was an English nobleman.He was a son of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater and his wife Lady Frances Stanley...
(1623–1686).
A Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
, in March 1640 Herbert was elected to the Commons
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
in the Short Parliament
Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....
representing Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Montgomeryshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1542, it elects one Member of Parliament , traditionally known as the knight of the shire, by the first-past-the-post system of election.The Montgomeryshire Welsh Assembly...
. In October of the same year, at the outset of the Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
, he was elected from Montgomery
Montgomery (UK Parliament constituency)
Montgomery was a constituency represented until 1707 in the House of Commons of England and later in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. He was appointed Royal Governor of Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, along the Severn Valley. It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn, which separates the upper town on the right bank from the lower on the left...
in 1642, as the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
was breaking out. At his own expense, in the king's cause he raised both a foot
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
and a troop
Troop
A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. In many armies a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry section or platoon...
of horse
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
, and the king gave him the rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
. On 12 October 1642 he was disabled from sitting in parliament, on account of having executed the Commission of Array
Commission of Array
A Commission of Array was a commission given by English royalty to officers or gentry in a given territory to muster and array the inhabitants and to see them in a condition for war, or to put soldiers of a country in a condition for military service...
in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
and of joining the king
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. In 1643, he graduated Master of Arts of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and became Governor of Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
.
In July 1643, Colonel Richard Herbert, in command of his regiment, was with Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...
at the capture of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
On 5 September 1644 Herbert's father Lord Herbert surrendered the family seat of Montgomery Castle, by negotiation, to parliamentary forces
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
led by Sir Thomas Myddelton
Thomas Myddelton (younger)
Sir Thomas Myddelton of Chirk Castle was a Welsh politician and Parliamentary general.-Early life:He was the son of Sir Thomas Myddelton. He matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford, on 22 February 1605, and became a student of Gray's Inn in 1607. he was knighted on 10 February 1617, and was M.P...
. The older Herbert returned to London, submitted to parliament, and received a pension of £20 a week, while the Castle was subsequently slighted
Slighting
A slighting is the deliberate destruction, partial or complete, of a fortification without opposition. During the English Civil War this was to render it unusable as a fort.-Middle Ages:...
.
Herbert was Governor of Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
in 1644 and of Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
in 1645, but he took the Negative Oath and on 6 March 1647 "petitioned to compound", with the result that he was fined £1,000 as the price of making his peace with parliament.
When Herbert's father died on 20 August 1648, he inherited his father's titles, Baron Herbert of Castle Island in the peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
and Baron Herbert of Chirbury
Baron Herbert of Chirbury
The title of Baron Herbert of Chirbury was created five times, twice in the Peerage of England, twice in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom....
in the peerage of England
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
, but little else. His younger brother, Edward, received the manor
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
of Llyssin for life, while his own son, another Edward, received his grandfather's books and most of his personal property. Herbert himself, the elder son, got only his father's horses and was instructed to "make much of the white horse", while his wife, the new Lady Herbert, was bequeathed her father-in-law's viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
s and lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
s.
He was briefly a member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, until on 19 March 1649 it was abolished by an Act of Parliament that declared that "The Commons of England find by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England". The Lords did not meet again until the Convention Parliament of 1660.
Herbert succeeded his father as Chief Forester of Snowdon
Snowdon
Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...
. He died on 13 May 1655 and was buried at Montgomery.
Descendants
Herbert's sons, Edward and Henry, both in turn succeeded him but left no male heirs. His daughter Frances was unmarried. His daughter, Florence, married a cousin, Richard Herbert (died 1676), of Oakley Park, Montgomeryshire. Their son Francis Herbert (died 1719) was the father of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of PowisHenry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis
Henry Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis PC , known as Henry Herbert until 1743 and as The Lord Herbert of Chirbury between 1743 and 1748, was a British peer and politician.-Background:...
, and of Urania Herbert (died 1776), who married the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Coulson Fellowes. She left two sons and a daughter, Urania Fellowes, who married John Wallop, 2nd Earl of Portsmouth
Earl of Portsmouth
Earl of Portsmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1743 for John Wallop, 1st Viscount Lymington, who had previously represented Hampshire in the House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Wallop, of Farleigh Wallop in Hampshire in the County of Southampton,...
(1742–1797).