Earl of Carnarvon

Earldom of Carnarvon

Per pale Azure and Gules three Lions rampant Argent
Creation date 3 July 1793[1]
Creation Third
Monarch George III
Peerage Peerage of Great Britain
First holder Henry Herbert, Baron Porchester
Present holder George Herbert, 8th Earl
Heir apparent George Herbert, Lord Porchester
Remainder to the 1st Earl's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titles Baron Porchester (17 October 1780)
Seat(s) Highclere Castle
Armorial motto Ung je serviray ("I will serve but one master")[1]

Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history.[2] The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are now usually spelt Caernarfon.

History

The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1628 in favour of Robert Dormer, 2nd Baron Dormer of Wyng.[2] For more information on this creation, which became extinct in 1709, see the Baron Dormer.[1]

The second creation was in 1714[2] in the Peerage of Great Britain for James Brydges, 9th Baron Chandos. In 1719 he was further honoured when he was made Marquess of Carnarvon and Duke of Chandos. For more information on this creation, which became extinct in 1789, see the Duke of Chandos.[3]

The third creation was in 1793 in the Peerage of Great Britain for Henry Herbert, 1st Baron Porchester.[2] The precise form of this creation was Earl of the Town and County of Carnarvon, in the Principality of Wales, although in practice only the style of Earl of Carnarvon is used. He had previously represented Wilton in the House of Commons and had already in 1780 been created Baron Porchester, of High Clere in the County of Southampton (also in the Peerage of Great Britain).[1] Herbert was the son of Major-General the Hon. William Herbert, fifth son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He sat as Whig Member of Parliament for Cricklade.

His eldest son, the third Earl, briefly represented Wootton Bassett in Parliament as a Tory before he succeeded his father in the earldom. His eldest son, the fourth Earl, was a prominent Conservative politician and served as Secretary of State for the Colonies and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was succeeded by his only son from his first marriage, the fifth Earl. He is famous for discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun along with Howard Carter.[3]

The titles are currently held by his great-grandson, the eighth Earl, who succeeded in 2001. As a male line descendant of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, 8th Earl of Pembroke and 5th Earl of Montgomery, he is also in remainder to these peerages and their subsidiary titles.[3]

Several other members of this branch of the Herbert family may be mentioned. The Very Reverend the Hon. William Herbert, third son of the first Earl, was a clergyman and noted botanist. His son Henry William Herbert was a novelist and writer on sport. Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert, Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1871 to 1892, was the son of the Hon. Algernon Herbert, fifth son of the first Earl.[3]

The Hon. Auberon Herbert, second son of the third Earl, was a writer, theorist, philosopher and also represented Nottingham in the House of Commons. He married Lady Florence Amabel Cowper, daughter of George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper and his wife Lady Anne Florence de Grey Cowper, 7th Baroness Lucas of Crudwell. In 1905, their only son Auberon Herbert succeeded his uncle as ninth Baron Lucas of Crudwell (see this title for further history of this branch of the family).[3]

The Hon. Aubrey Herbert, second son of the fourth Earl, was Member of Parliament for South Somerset and for Yeovil. His son Auberon Herbert was an expert on Eastern Europe.[3]

The family seat of the Herbert Earls of Carnarvon is Highclere Castle in Hampshire, which was the setting for the highly successful UK television series Downton Abbey, created by Julian Fellowes. The traditional burial place of the Herbert Earls of Carnarvon is the Carnarvon Mausoleum, located in the park at Highclere Castle;[4] some other family members are buried in the Herbert Mausoleum at the Church of All Saints, Burghclere.[5]

Earls of Carnarvon, first creation (1628)

Earls of Carnarvon, second creation (1714)

Earls of Carnarvon, third creation (1793)

Arms of the Earl of Carnarvon showing the difference mark

The heir apparent is the present holder's elder son George Kenneth Oliver Molyneux Herbert, Lord Porchester (b. 1992).

Until the birth of the Hon. Reginald Henry Michael Herbert to William Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke, on 21 October 2012, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon was the heir presumptive to the earldom of Pembroke and the earldom of Montgomery. The 8th Earl is now second-in-line to those titles.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 697. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Carnarvon, Earldom of". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Burke 2003, p. 698
  4. ↑ Carnarvon Mausoleum
  5. ↑ Herbert Mausoleum
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Carnarvon, Earldom of.
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