Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/207

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Herbert
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Herbert

Latin speech, He edited in 1869 his father's account of travels in Greece in 1839; in 1875 a posthumous work of his Oxford tutor, Dean Mansel, on ‘The Gnostic Heresies of the First and Second Centuries,’ with a life of the author; and in 1889 a series of unpublished letters of Lord Chesterfield, which came, together with the Chesterfield estates at Bretby, Nottinghamshire, into the possession of his eldest son on the death, in 1885, of the Countess of Chesterfield, mother of his first wife. Carnarvon was a devout adherent of the church of England, but was exceptionally tolerant to all religious opinions. He was a useful member of the Historical MSS. Commission from 1882, and was a prominent freemason, holding the post of progrand-master of England.

A portrait painted by George Richmond, R. A., for Grillion's Club is in the rooms of the club at the Grand Hotel, London.

Carnarvon married, first, on 5 Sept. 1861, in Westminster Abbey, Lady Evelyn, only daughter of George Augustus Frederick Stanhope, sixth earl of Chesterfield (she died 25 Jan. 1875); and secondly, on 26 Dec. 1878, Elizabeth Catharine, eldest daughter of Henry Howard, esq. By his first wife he had a son, who succeeded him as fifth earl, and three daughters. By his second wife, who survived him, he had two sons.

[The Times (obituary), 30 June 1890, is the fullest account that has yet appeared, but it is very meagre. An appreciative sketch is to be found in Mr. G. W. Smalley's London Letters (1890), i. 171 sq. The further details supplied here are drawn from the files of the Times between 1856 and 1890; from the Pall Mall Gazette, 1884 to 1890; from the reports of the parliamentary debates in Hansard under the dates mentioned; and from memoranda supplied by personal friends. For Carnarvon's South African policy see also W. Gresswell's Our South African Empire, and a pamphlet on the South African Conference, 1877. His speeches on introducing the Canada Bill in 1867 and on announcing his resignation in 1878 were printed separately.]

S. L. L.

HERBERT, HENRY JOHN GEORGE, third Earl of Carnarvon (1800–1849), born 8 June 1800, was eldest son of Henry George Herbert, the second earl, by Elizabeth Kitty, daughter of Colonel John Dyke Acland of Pixton, Somerset. His grandfather, Henry Herbert (1741–1811), was elder son of William Herbert, the fifth son of Thomas Herbert, eighth earl of Pembroke [q. v.], and was created Lord Porchester of Highclere 17 Oct. 1780, and Earl of Carnarvon 3 July 1793. Henry John George, at first known as Viscount Porchester, was educated at Eton and matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, on 22 Oct. 1817, but did not proceed to a degree. A love of adventure led him from an early age to spend much time abroad. He travelled in Barbary, and subsequently for many years in Portugal and in Spain, where he was imprisoned by the Christinos in consequence of displaying active sympathy with the Carlists. Although no learned archæologist Porchester was an intelligent observer and an excellent linguist. He was much attracted by Spanish history and literature, and in 1825 published ‘The Moor,’ a poem in six cantos, and in 1828 ‘Don Pedro, King of Castile,’ a tragedy, which was successfully produced at Drury Lane during his absence abroad, on 10 March 1828, when Macready and Miss Ellen Tree filled the chief parts. On returning home he published the results of his observations in ‘The Last Days of the Portuguese Constitution,’ 1830, and in ‘Portugal and Galicia,’ 1830; 3rd edition, 1848. In 1831 he was elected M.P. for Wootton Basset, Wiltshire, and on 4 July of the same year delivered one of the most effective speeches in opposition to the Reform Bill (Hansard, 3rd ser. iv. 711), and another in committee on the discussion regarding the disfranchisement of Wootton Basset (ib. v. 378). The former speech was separately published. He succeeded his father as third earl 16 April 1833, and continued his opposition to liberal measures in the House of Lords. In 1839 he made an extensive tour through Greece, at a time when the country was suffering from the effects of war and civil disturbances. In 1869 his son and successor published, with a preface, his interesting notes of the tour, under the title ‘Reminiscences of Athens and the Morea in 1839.’ His health was never very good, and he died at the house of his brother-in-law, Philip Pusey, M.P., of Pusey, Berkshire, on 9 Dec. 1849. In 1841 he began the restoration of the family seat, Highclere, Berkshire, on a very elaborate scale. He was a popular landlord, although jealous of his rights. In 1844 he established in the law courts his claims to free-warren over the manors of Highclere and Burghclere—i.e. the exclusive right of killing game on those estates. In private life he was singularly kind and unassuming. His portrait was painted by E. Walker.

Carnarvon married, on 4 Aug. 1830, Henrietta Anne, daughter of Lord Henry Molyneux Howard. By her, who died 26 May 1876, he had three sons: Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, fourth earl [q. v.]; Alan Percy Harty Molyneux Herbert, M.D.; and Auberon Edward William Molyneux, D.C.L.; together with two daughters, of whom the