Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Herbert, Henry (1693-1751)
HERBERT, HENRY, ninth Earl of Pembroke and sixth Earl of Montgomery (1693–1751), lieutenant-general, called ‘the architect earl,’ eldest of the seven sons of Thomas, eighth earl of Pembroke [q. v.], by his first wife, was born 29 Jan. 1693. On the accession of George I he was appointed lord of the bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, in which appointment he was confirmed on the prince's accession to the throne as George II in 1727. Meantime he had been made captain and lieutenant-colonel of the Coldstream regiment of foot-guards, 12 Aug. 1717, and captain and colonel of the first troop of horse-guards, 10 Sept. 1721, which he subsequently exchanged for the colonelcy of the king's regiment of horse, now the 1st or king's dragoon guards (22 June 1733). He was made groom of the stole in 1735, and attained the rank of lieutenant-general on 18 Feb. 1741-2. He was one of the lords justices during the absence of the king from England in 1740, and again in 1743 and in 1748.
He appears to have inherited his father's taste as a virtuoso, but applied it chiefly to architecture. Horace Walpole (Anecdotes of Painting, Wornum, iii. 771-2) speaks of him as a second Inigo Jones, and instances as examples of his taste and skill in architectural design his improvements at the family seat, Wilton House, the new lodge in Richmond Park, the Countess of Suffolk's house, Marble Hill, Twickenham, and the water house in Lord Orford's park at Houghton.
He rendered valuable public service in promoting the erection of Westminster Bridge (since rebuilt), for which an act of parliament was obtained in 1736 (9 Geo. II), and he advocated the claims of the Swiss architect, Charles Labelye, against the powerful interest made for Nicholas Hawksmoor [q. v.], and Batty Langley [q. v.] (ib.) Pembroke laid the first stone of the structure with great ceremony in 1739, and the last stone in 1750. Serious difficulties were encountered in carrying out the undertaking, which gave a great impetus in bridge-building in England, particularly in London. He was elected F.R.S. 15 Dec. 1743. He died suddenly at his residence in Privy Gardens, Whitehall, 9 June 1751. There is an engraved portrait by J. Bretherton.
Pembroke married, 28 Aug. 1733, Mary, eldest daughter of Richard, viscount Fitzwilliam in the peerage of Ireland, who had been a maid of honour to Queen Caroline. Their only son, Henry Herbert, tenth earl of Pembroke, is separately noticed. The countess survived her husband; afterwards married Major North Ludlow Barnard, and died in 1769.
[Foster's Peerage under ‘Pembroke and Montgomery;’ Doyle's Official Baronage; Collins's Peerage, 1812 ed., iii. 142-5; H. Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting (Wornum), iii. 771-2, which contains a portrait of Lord Pembroke; H. Walpole's Letters, passim; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. Particulars of the erection, &c., of Westminster Bridge will be found in Cresy's Encycl. of Civil Engineering, London, 1856, pp. 422-5, and in the report on Westminster Bridge in Parl. Papers, Reports of Select Committees, 1844, vol. vi.]