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The Right Honourable
The Lord Powis
KB
The Right Honourable The Lord Powis KB
	Portrait of William Herbert, 1595
Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire
	In office; 1604–1629
Preceded by	Edward Herbert
Succeeded by	Parliament suspended until 1640
	In office; 1597–1597
Preceded by	Reginald Williams
Succeeded by	Edward Herbert
Personal details
Born	William Herbert; c. 1573; Powis Castle
Died	7 March 1655 (aged 81–82)
Spouse	Lady Eleanor Percy
Relations	William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (grandfather); Anne Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (grandmother); Sir Thomas Stanley (grandfather); William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis (grandson); Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine (grandson)
Parent(s)	Sir Edward Herbert; Mary Stanley

William Herbert, 1st Baron Powis KB (c. 1573^[1] – 7 March 1655^[2]) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1629.

Early life

Herbert was born in Powis Castle, the son of Sir Edward Herbert (c. 1542–1595) and the former Mary Stanley. In 1587, his father purchased the lands of the abeyant barony of Powis from their distant relative, Edward, an illegitimate son of the 3rd Baron Grey of Powis.^[3]

His maternal grandfather was Sir Thomas Stanley, who served as Under-Treasurer of the Royal Mint at the Tower of London during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.^[1]^[2] His father was the second son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and the former Anne Parr, sister of Queen Catherine Parr (the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII).^[1]^[2] His paternal uncle was Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.^[2]

Career

Herbert was High Steward to Elizabeth I of England. In 1597, he was elected Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire. He served as Custos Rotulorum of Montgomeryshire from 1602 to 1641. Upon the coronation of James I in 1603, Herbert was made a Knight of the Bath.^[1]^[2]

In 1604, he was elected MP for Montgomeryshire again. He was appointed High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1613.^[4] In 1614, he was re-elected MP for Montgomeryshire and was re-elected in 1624, 1625, 1626 and 1628. He was created Baron Powis (a new creation) of Powis Castle on 2 April 1629.^[1]

Personal life

Before 1600, Lord Powis married Lady Eleanor Percy (1583–1650), third daughter of Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland and his wife, Katherine Neville (eldest daughter and co-heiress of John Nevill, 4th Baron Latymer).^[1]^[2] They had several children including:

Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis (1598–1667),^[1] who was created a baronet in 1622 before succeeding to his father's titles; he married Elizabeth Craven, eldest surviving daughter of Sir William Craven, Lord Mayor of London.^[2]
Katherine Herbert (c. 1600–1666), who married Sir Robert Vaughan of Llwydiarth. After his death, she married Sir James Palmer.^[2]
Lucy Herbert, who married William Habington (or Abington) of Hindlip in early 1633.^[2]^[5]
Marie Herbert (1604–1660), who married Humphrey Jones, son of Gruffyd Jones.^[6]

Lord Powis died on 7 March 1655.^[2] He was succeeded by his son Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis. Herbert was buried at St. Mary's Church in Hendon, Middlesex, London.^[1]

Descendants

Through his eldest son, he was a grandfather of William Herbert (1626–1696), who became the 1st Earl of Powis in 1674 and then 1st Marquess of Powis in 1687.

Through his daughter Katherine's second marriage, she was the mother of Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine, best known for his marriage to Barbara Villiers, one of Charles II's mistresses whom the King ennobled as the Duchess of Cleveland.^[7]

In popular culture

Herbert is a candidate for "Mr WH", the dedicatee of Shakespeare's sonnets.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h George Edward Cokayne. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant, Volume 6. G. Bell & sons, 1895. pg 295.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Bernard Burke. A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, Harrison, 1866. pg 275.
^ "HERBERT family, (Earls of POWIS)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
^ Nicholas, Thomas (1872). Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales: Containing a Record of All Ranks of the Gentry ... with Many Ancient Pedigrees and Memorials of Old and Extinct Families. Longmans, Green, Reader. p. 813. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr.; Alan Stewart; Rebecca Lemon; Nicholas McDowell; Jennifer Richards (2012). The Encyclopedia of English Renaissance Literature. Vol. 1. John Wiley & Sons. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-4051-9449-5.
^ Griffith, John Edwards (1914). Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire Families, with Their Collateral Branches in Denbighshire, Merionethshire, and Other Parts. Bridge Books. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-9508285-5-8. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ "PALMER, Roger (1634-1705), of Llanfyllin Hall, Mont". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ Kathman, David (2004). "W. H. [Mr W. H.] (fl. 1609), dedicatee of William Shakespeare's sonnets". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/76084. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 22 June 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Parliament of England
Preceded by Reginald Williams	Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire 1597	Succeeded by Edward Herbert
Preceded by Edward Herbert	Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire 1604–1629	Parliament suspended until 1640
Political offices
Preceded by Richard Broughton	Custos Rotulorum of Montgomeryshire 1602–1641	Succeeded by The Earl of Pembroke
Peerage of England
New creation	Baron Powis 1628–1655	Succeeded by Percy Herbert