William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1551 creation)

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William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke KG (c. 1506March 17, 1570) was a Tudor noble and courtier.

His father, Sir Richard Herbert, was an illegitimate son of another William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1423-1469) of an older, extinct creation.

Herbert's first wife, Anne Parr, was a sister of Catherine Parr, who married King Henry VIII. He rose with the Parrs after his sister-in-law's marriage and was knighted in 1543. He had been granted Wilton Abbey and other land by Henry VIII by 1544. He pulled down the abbey, and built the first Wilton House in the 1540s. Herbert was a guardian of the young King Edward VI after the death of Henry VIII in 1547. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1549, and created Baron Herbert of Cardiff on October 10, 1551, and 1st Earl of Pembroke the following day by Edward VI. His wife Anne died on February 20, 1552,and later that year Herbert married Anne, daughter of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, and widow of Peter Compton. He had no children by his second wife, but three by Anne Parr:

Herbert married his son Henry to Lady Catherine Grey in May 1553 while John Dudley married his son, Guilford Dudley to Lady Jane Grey. Herbert initially supported Jane Grey's claim to the throne, however when it became clear that Mary I would take the throne he cast Catherine out of his house and had the marriage annulled. He managed to distance himself from Grey family after their fall and obtained the new queen's favour by crushing Wyatt's rebellion.

William died on March 17, 1570, in Hampton Court.

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Honorary Titles
Preceded by
Unknown
Custos Rotulorum of Glamorgan
bef. 1544–1570
Succeeded by
The Earl of Pembroke
Preceded by
New office
Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
1559–1570
Succeeded by
Unknown
Preceded by
New office
Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
1551–1570
Succeeded by
The Earl of Pembroke
Political offices
Preceded by
Anthony Browne
Master of the Horse
1548–1552
Succeeded by
The Lord Ambrose Dudley
Preceded by
The Earl of Arundel
Lord Steward
1568–1570
Succeeded by
The Earl of Leicester
Peerage of England
New Title
Title granted by
Edward VI of England
Baron Herbert of Cardiff
1551–1570
Succeeded by
Henry Herbert
Earl of Pembroke
1551–1570