Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon

Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, PC, DL, FSA, FRS (24 June 1831 – 29 June 1890), known as Lord Porchester from 1833 to 1849, was a British politician and a leading member of the Conservative Party. He was twice Secretary of State for the Colonies and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Background and education

Born at Grosvenor Square, London, Carnarvon was the eldest son of Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon, by his wife Henrietta Anna, daughter of Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard. The Hon. Auberon Herbert was his younger brother. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1849 he succeeded his father in the earldom. His nickname was "Twitters",^[1] apparently on account of his twitchy behaviour.

Political career

Carnarvon served under Lord Derby as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1858 to 1859. In 1866 he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies by Derby. In 1867 he introduced the British North America Act, which conferred self-government on Canada, and effectively created a confederation. Later that year, he resigned over Benjamin Disraeli's Reform Bill, along with Lord Cranborne and Jonathan Peel.

Returning to the office of the British colonial secretary in 1874, he submitted a set of proposals, known by his name, the carnarvon terms that were a set of proposals in 1874 dictated by the British colonial secretary to settle the dispute between British Columbia and Canada over the construction of the transcontinental railroad and the Vancouver Island railroad and train bridge. Vancouver Island had been promised a rail link as a precondition of its entry into British North America confederation.

In 1874, managing the empire the sun never set on, he endeavoured to impose a confederation on South Africa as he had on Canada, but the times were not ripe and his confederation scheme collapsed leaving a trail of wars across southern Africa. He addressed the concept of Imperialism in Africa many times while holding the title. In 1878 he resigned in opposition to Disraeli's policy on the Eastern Question; but on his party's return to power in 1885 he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. His short period of office, memorable for a conflict on a question of personal veracity between himself and Charles Stewart Parnell as to his negotiations with the latter in respect of Home Rule, was terminated by another premature resignation. He never returned to office.

Other public appointments

Carnarvon also held the honorary posts of Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire between 1887 and 1890 and Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire. He was regarded as a highly cultured man and was a president and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Society as well as was high steward of Oxford University. He was also a prominent freemason, having been initiated in the Westminster and Keystone Lodge, and with his permission a number of subsequently founded lodges bore his name in their titles.

Family

Lord Carnarvon married firstly Lady Evelyn, daughter of George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield, in 1861. They had one son and three daughters. After her death in 1875 he married secondly his first cousin Elizabeth Catherine, daughter of Henry Howard, in 1878. They had two sons, of whom the eldest was the Hon. Aubrey Herbert and the youngest George. His eldest daughter Lady Winifred married as her second husband Lord Burghclere and was the mother of the Hon. Evelyn, first wife of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. Carnarvon's son Aubrey was the father of Laura Herbert, who was the second wife of Evelyn Waugh. Lord Carnarvon died at Portman Square, London, in June 1890, aged 59. His second wife survived him by almost forty years and died in February 1929, aged 72.

References

• Roberts, Andrew. Salisbury: Victorian Titan. London: Orion Books, 2000 [c1999].
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• www.thepeerage.com

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Carnarvon