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Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke

The 9th Earl.
Etching by James Bretherton, published 1762.
See full size. From NPG. See terms of use.

Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke,
6th Earl of Montgomery, "The Architect Earl",
born 1688.
See thepeerage and genealogics.org and wikipedia and wikitree.
He was educ Christ Church, Oxford. Matric 4 May 1705.

He built the family's town house, Pembroke House, Privy Gardens, Whitehall, London, in 1723-24.
He helped design Marble Hill House, on the Thames near Richmond, for Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk in 1724-1729.
He stayed unmarried a long time. Did not marry until after father died and he succeeded.
See [Letter of 1728] speculating on whether he would marry. Interestingly, Mary Fitzwilliam is mentioned in the same paragraph.
He succ Jan 1733.

He mar 28 Aug 1733 [him age 45, her age 25] to Mary Fitzwilliam [bapt 8 Sept 1707, descendant of Edward III].
Settlement between Herbert and Fitzwilliam and others about marriage dated 18 Jan 1734 [using new style year, note that at the time this was regarded as the end of 1733].
He landscaped the gardens at Wilton.
He removed the formal gardens that were to the S of the house.

Westminster Bridge, London:
The 9th Earl helped organise the building of Westminster Bridge in London (parliamentary approval in 1736, built in 1739-50), changing the face of London.
This was only the second bridge in central London, after centuries of London Bridge being the only bridge.
(We are not counting Putney Bridge, some way out of the city to the W.)

He designed and built in 1737 the Palladian Bridge over the river to the S of the house.
He refers to his wife affectionately as "rib" in [Letter of 1738].
Fellow of the Royal Society 15 Dec 1743.
He had a mistress, Rebecca Abbott. He paid her an annual allowance, and left a payment to her in his will [Lever, 1967, p.153].
His will dated 11 July 1744.

9th Earl dies, 1750:
He died at Pembroke House, London, 9 Jan 1750 [new style year, at the time regarded as end of 1749]. Grave says age 61.
See [Letter by Horace Walpole, 10 Jan 1750] which gives an account of his death and says he had a terrible temper.
He was bur 16 Jan 1750 at Wilton parish church. Grave says 1749. That is old style year.
His will pr 17 Jan 1750, Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
Mary re-married soon after, in 1751.
9th Earl and Mary had issue:

Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke,
born July 1734, Pembroke House, London.
See [Complete Peerage] for discussion of whether he is born 3 July or 16 July.
See his ancestors by Leo van de Pas.
See his 18 descents from Edward III by Leo van de Pas.

9th Earl. By William Hoare. 1738 or shortly after.
From here.

Queen Caroline says in 1737 (shortly before her death) that the 9th Earl is "as odd as his father was, not so tractable, and full as mad."
From p.450 of vol.2 of 1848 edn of Lord John Hervey's memoirs.

Walpoliana (Horace Walpole miscellany), published 1800, pp.51-52, recalls the 9th Earl (died 1750).

Architecture

Pembroke House, Whitehall, London, when first built by the 9th Earl in 1724.
See full size.
From p.48 of [Campbell, vol.3, 1725].

Marble Hill House, on the Thames near Richmond (see map and street view).
Photo 2006. From here.
See more images.

Westminster Bridge, London.
Painted in 1747 (bridge not yet finished) by Canaletto.
See larger and full size.
From here.

The Complete Peerage

9th Earl in [Complete Peerage].

References

Letters to and from Henrietta, countess of Suffolk, and her second husband, the Hon. George Berkeley: from 1712 to 1767, published 1824.
- Volume 1 (and here)
  - Page 303. Letter of 13 July 1728 from Lord Chesterfield.
- Volume 2 (and here).
  - Pages 164 and 165-166. Letter from 9th Earl, 21 June 1738.
Letters of Horace Walpole
- Vol.2 (and here and here and here)
  - Pages 188 and 189. Letter on the 9th Earl's death, 10 Jan 1750 [using new style year, note that at the time this was regarded as the end of 1749]. The notes say the 9th Earl died 9 Jan 1750-51, but this is contradicted by the book itself, which clearly shows the letter as 10 Jan 1749-50.

Sources yet to be consulted

Will of 9th Earl. PROB 11/776/186 in [NA.UK].
- See transcript by Bob Janes.
Anecdotes of painting in England (and here and search) by Horace Walpole, 1762. Account of 9th Earl.

"That the rich blood, which in thy veins has run,
Descends thro' thee, untainted to thy Son."
- Part of inscription on 9th Earl's tomb, which talks about his illustrious ancestors, and their blood descending "untainted" to his son the 10th Earl.