Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon


Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon DL, FSA, styled The Honourable Henry Herbert from 1780 to 1793 and Lord Porchester from 1793 to 1811, was a British peer, nobleman, and Whig politician.

Background and education

Born in Hill Street in London, Herbert was the oldest son of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon, and Lady Elizabeth Alicia Maria Wyndham, the oldest daughter of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont. He was baptised in St George's, Hanover Square on 22 June 1772. His younger brothers were the sailor Charles Herbert and the botanist William Herbert. Another brother, Algernon Herbert was an antiquary. Herbert was educated at Eton until 1789.

Career

Herbert joined the Royal Wiltshire Militia as captain in 1790 and when the West Somerset Yeomanry was raised in 1794 became its major. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel four years later and obtained colonelcy of the regiment in 1803. Having been elected for Cricklade, Herbert entered the British House of Commons in 1794. After the Act of Union 1801 he represented the constituency then in the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1811, when he succeeded his father as earl. During his time as Member of Parliament he stirred an investigation into the failure of the Walcheren Campaign in 1809. Herbert was nominated a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Somerset in 1803 and served as High Steward of Newbury. He was chosen a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1814 and was vice-president of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Marriage and children

On 26 April 1796, he married the heiress Elizabeth "Kitty" Acland, at St George's Hanover Square. She was the only daughter and eventual heiress of Col. John Dyke Acland, son and heir apparent of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet of Killerton, Devon and Petherton Park in Somerset, who acquired Pixton, Tetton and Holnicote by his marriage to the heiress Elizabeth Dyke. Her brother was Sir John Dyke Acland, 8th Baronet, who died aged 7. He inherited from his wife the substantial Somerset estates of Pixton Park in Somerset and Tetton, Kingston St Mary. Kitty died at Shooter's Hill in 1813; Herbert survived her for twenty years until 1833. By his wife he had five children, three daughters and two sons.
He died, aged 60, at his London residence in Grosvenor Square and was buried at Burghclere in Hampshire. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Henry.

Porchester's Post

The westernmost boundary of the historic estate of Pixton Park in Somerset is marked by "Porchester's Post", a 10 foot high oak obelisk first erected in 1796 for that purpose, by the 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, husband of Elizabeth "Kitty" Acland, heiress of Pixton, whom he had married that year. He was then aged 24 and until his father's death in 1811 was known by his courtesy title of Lord Porchester. It is located high up on Exmoor between Withypool Hill and Halscombe Allotment, 7 miles north-west of Pixton Park. It was renewed and re-erected in 2002 by the Exmoor National Park Authority. A brass plaque attached to it is inscribed as follows: