Herbert, Henry Arthur (1703-1772) Lord Herbert of Chirbury, 1st Earl of Powis (2nd creation)
This Henry Herbert was the son of Francis Herbert of Oakley Park, Shropshire and unlike his Montgomeryshire cousins was a staunch Protestant. He was first elected MP for Ludlow in 1727 and served for three Parliaments. In 1745 he was Lord-lieutenant for Shropshire, and was made Baron Herbert of Cherbury in 1743. On the death of the last Montgomeryshire Herbert, he inherited all the Powis estates. Having demonstrated his Hanoverian loyalties during the "45", he was made Earl of Powis and Viscount Ludlow. He cemented his inheritance by marrying the 16-year-old Lady Barbara Herbert, last of the Powis Herberts. He continued living at Oakley Park until debts (partly caused by his wife's gambling) caused him to sell this estate to Clive of India and move to Powis Castle in 1771. He died the following year at Bath.
[MW; "Powis Castle" - National Trust]
[MW; "Powis Castle" - National Trust]
Herbert, Matthew (d.1660)
Rector of Llangattock in office 1621. He was related to the Somersets. A notable scholar and schoolmaster of the poet Henry Vaughan. Ejected from the living in 1650 by the Commision set up by the Act for Better Propagation and Preaching of the Gospel in Wales, he died a month or so before the Restoration which would have restored him in 1660.
[Crickhowell & District Civic Society]
[Crickhowell & District Civic Society]
Herbert, Sir Percy (c.1598-1667), 2nd Baron Powys
The son and heir of Sir William Herbert, the first Lord Powis (see above). In 1621 he was elected MP for Shaftesbury after the sitting member was expelled from parliament. The following year he was created a baronet in his own right. He was involved in raising the trained bands for the county and was appointed to the Council for Wales and the Marches. In 1639 he was the collector for the county of the moneys contributed by Catholics for carrying on the war against the Scots. He was convicted of recusancy and treason in 1651 during the family's exile from Powis Castle and imprisoned. On his father's death in 1655 he became the second Lord Powis. In 1660 he headed the nobility and gentry of North Wales who met the newly restored Charles II and took back possession of Powis Castle. The order for the demolishing of the castle was rescinded apart from the removal of the outer works. Sir Percy himself seems to have lived at Buttington.
[MW; "Powis Castle"- National Trust]
[MW; "Powis Castle"- National Trust]
Herbert, Sir Richard (d. 1540)
The first of the renowned Herbert family to settle in Montgomeryshire. He was a younger son of Sir Richard Herbert of Colebroke, near Abergavenny. He was knighted by Henry VIII about the year 1510 and later received a grant of Montgomery castle and its dependencies. He was also Constable of Aberystwyth and said by his great-grandson Lord Herbert of Chirbury to have been steward of the lordships of Cardiganshire, and North and East Wales. He was one of the leading gentry of Montgomeryshire and one of those who petitioned the King to replace the marcher lordships with a system of counties and sheriffs. He was twice married and had fourteen children in all, thus firmly establishing the dynasty. He died around 1540.
[MW]
[MW]
Herbert, Richard (fl.1576)
Of Parke in the parish of Llanwnog, Montgomeryshire. His father William had served as sheriff for the county in 1547. He married Elizabeth daughter of Humphrey ap John ap Evan ap Owen of Dyffryn in the parish of Meifod through whom he inherited property. He served as mayor of Caersws in the year that his brother Lewis Herbert was mayor of Llanidloes and was a magistrate and grand juror for the county for many years. He was himself Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1576 and 1584.
[W.V. Lloyd - the Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire]
[W.V. Lloyd - the Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire]
Herbert, William (fl.1547)
Of Parke in the parish of Llanwnog. He was the third son of Sir Richard Herbert of Montgomery (see above), by his first wife and thus enjoyed the support and patronage of another Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke, which helped the Montgomeryshire Herbert dynasty become established. Around 1537 he was appointed King's Bailiff for Montgomery, the first of many public offices he was to hold. He was elected as the first MP for the Borough of Montgomery in 1541 and served as MP for the county in the next two parliaments. He was Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1547 and of Cardiganshire in 1549. He had seven sons and five daughters.
[MW; W.V. Lloyd - the Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire]
[MW; W.V. Lloyd - the Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire]
Herbert, Sir William (c.1547-1655) 1st Baron Powis
Eldest son of Sir William Herbert (see above) of Powis Castle. He was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of King James I and was appointed Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1613 and was granted the manors of Kerry and Cedewain, and the borough and castle of Montgomery in 1616. A firm Roman Catholic, he married the daughter of the Earl of Northumberland, and brought up their children in that faith. In April 1629 he was created 1st Baron Powis of Powis by Charles I. A commited royalist he held Powis Castle for the King during the Civil War but was captured when Sir Thomas Middleton's forces blew up the gates with a petard and stormed the castle in October 1644. He was held prisoner at Wem and then Stafford before being allowed to live at his lodgings in the Strand on parole, his estates being sequestered. He died, aged 83 in 1655 and was succeeded in the title by his son Sir Percy Herbert, bart. (see above)
[MW]
[MW]
Herbert, Sir William (c.1626-1696) 3rd Baron Powis; 1st Earl, Marquis & Duke of Powis
The most distinguished of the seventeenth century Herberts, Sir William succeeded to the Barony of Powis in 1667. He was a leading Roman Catholic and royalist and married Lady Elizabeth Somerset, daughter of the Marquis of Worcester. Charles II created him Earl of Powis in 1674 as a reward for the family's loyalty. By 1678 anti-catholic feeling was exploited by Titus Oates who claimed that Lord Powis was at the centre of a Popish plot to kill the king. Herbert was imprisoned in the Tower of London for five years. Anti-catholic feeling was still sufficiently high upon his release that Lord and Lady Powis had to flee their London home when it was burned by a mob in 1684.
Lord Powis had a reputation for kindness and honesty and was respected by the Montgomeryshire Quaker community. When Hugh Owen of Bronyclydwr, another leading Nonconformist, was imprisoned in Powis Castle he was treated with great kindness. Lord Powis is reported as being impressed with his devotion and he invited him to Powis Castle to celebrate every Christmas. The accession of the catholic James II brought Lord Powis back to prominence. On his summons to Privy Council Lord Powis warned of a possible backlash if the king pursued vigorous pro-catholic policies. In 1686 the Earl of Powis was created Viscount Montgomery and Marquis of Powis, and Lady Powis became Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen. The infant Prince of Wales was placed in their care and they followed the Royal family into exile in France in 1688. In 1689 Lord Powis became the Duke of Powis in exile and the following year he accompanied James on his doomed attempt to raise Ireland to his cause. After the Battle of the Boyne he returned to France with the ex-king and lived out the remainder of his days in comfort in the palace of St. Germain-en-Laye as Comptroller of the Household. He died and was buried in France in 1696.
[MW; "Powis Castle"- National Trust]
Lord Powis had a reputation for kindness and honesty and was respected by the Montgomeryshire Quaker community. When Hugh Owen of Bronyclydwr, another leading Nonconformist, was imprisoned in Powis Castle he was treated with great kindness. Lord Powis is reported as being impressed with his devotion and he invited him to Powis Castle to celebrate every Christmas. The accession of the catholic James II brought Lord Powis back to prominence. On his summons to Privy Council Lord Powis warned of a possible backlash if the king pursued vigorous pro-catholic policies. In 1686 the Earl of Powis was created Viscount Montgomery and Marquis of Powis, and Lady Powis became Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen. The infant Prince of Wales was placed in their care and they followed the Royal family into exile in France in 1688. In 1689 Lord Powis became the Duke of Powis in exile and the following year he accompanied James on his doomed attempt to raise Ireland to his cause. After the Battle of the Boyne he returned to France with the ex-king and lived out the remainder of his days in comfort in the palace of St. Germain-en-Laye as Comptroller of the Household. He died and was buried in France in 1696.
[MW; "Powis Castle"- National Trust]
Herbert, William (c.1665-1745) 4th Baron Powis, 2nd Earl, Marquis and Duke of Powis
During the family's years of exile a proclamation had been issued for Herbert's arrest on suspicion of conspiring with the French to invade England. At this time his father's estates were attainted and it was probably to avoid outlawry and permanent exile that he gave himself up to the authorities after his father's death in 1696. He was imprisoned in Newgate for about six months before being bailed out. The Powis estates were largely given over to friends of the new monarchy. He was back at Powis Castle by 1703 although minus his titles and the majority of the estates. He seems to have managed without the income from the lost estates possibly thanks to the discovery of lead seams at Llangynog. This mine was to prove very profitable indeed in later years. During the Jacobite revolt of 1715 he was imprisoned in the Tower for "safe keeping", probably on the strength of the family's former alliances and sympathies. All estates and titles except the dukedom were restored in 1722 however. A widower since 1724, the Earl failed to convince his son Lord Montgomery of the necessity to marry to preserve the dynasty. After his death in 1745, the third Marquis only survived him by three years, dying without issue in 1748.
[MW; "Powis Castle" - National Trust]
[MW; "Powis Castle" - National Trust]