William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke

How are you related to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke?

Connect to the World Family Tree to find out

William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke's Geni Profile

Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love

  • Build your family tree online
  • Share photos and videos
  • Smart Matching™ technology
  • Free!

William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke

Also Known As: "Herbert", "William Daubney", "William Daubney Aubeney", "Black Will", "Black William"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Raglan Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales (United Kingdom)
Death: July 27, 1469 (45-46)
Banbury, Northamptonshire, England (United Kingdom) (beheaded)
Place of Burial: Tintern Abbey, Chapel Hill, Monmouthshire, England
Immediate Family:

Son of Sir William ap Thomas, The Blue Knight of Gwent and Gwladus verch Dafydd Gam
Husband of Anne Devereux, Countess of Pembroke
Partner of N.N. Boys; Frond verch Hoesgyn and Mawd Turberville
Father of John Herbert, of Monmouth; Thomas Herbert Gloff, of Llandeilo Gresynni; William Herbert Fain; Sir William Herbert, of Troy; Philip Herbert and 12 others
Brother of Elsbeth ferch William; Margred Herbert; Elsbeth verch William; Sir Richard Herbert, of Coldbrook; Jonet Herbert and 2 others
Half brother of Sir Thomas Vaughan, of Hergest; Sir Roger Vaughan of Tretower, Kt.; Elizabeth Vaughan; Watkin Vaughan; Elizbeth ferch Sir Roger Vaughan and 4 others

Occupation: Earl of Pembroke, 17 CHILDREN, Lord of Raglan Castle; defeated at the Battle of Edgecote & captured by Richard, Earl of Warwick, beheaded the next day in Northamptonshire, Earl of Pembrose, First Earl of Pembroke
Managed by: Jason Scott Wills
Last Updated:

About William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke

See Peter Bartrum, https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000173392923963 (October 2, 2018; Anne Brannen, curator)

See Peter Bartrum, https://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/5005/Godwin%... (February 1, 2018; Anne Brannen, curator)

See Peter Bartrum, https://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/5007/GODWIN%... (January 9, 2017; Anne Brannen, curator)

William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke KG (c. 1423 – 27 July 1469), known as "Black William", was the son of William ap Thomas, founder of Raglan Castle, and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, and grandson of Dafydd Gam, an adherent of King Henry V of England.

His father had been an ally of Richard of York, and Herbert supported the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the Roses. Herbert was rewarded by King Edward IV with the title Lord Herbert of Raglan in 1461 (having assumed an English-style surname in place of the Welsh patronymic), and invested as a Knight of the Garter.

Soon after the decisive Yorkist victory at the Battle of Towton in 1461, Herbert replaced Jasper Tudor as Earl of Pembroke which gave him control of Pembroke Castle. However, he fell out with Lord Warwick "the Kingmaker" in 1469, when Warwick turned against the King. William and his brother Richard were executed by the Lancastrians, now led by Warwick, after the Battle of Edgecote Moor, near Banbury.[1]

Herbert was succeeded by his son, William, but the earldom was surrendered in 1479. It was later revived for a grandson, another William Herbert, the son of Black William's illegitimate son, Sir Richard Herbert of Ewyas.

Marriage and children

He married Anne Devereux, daughter of Walter Devereux, Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Elizabeth Merbury. They had at least ten children:

  • 1. William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (5 March 1451 - 16 July 1491).
  • 2. Sir Walter Herbert. (c. 1452 - d. 16 September 1507) Married Anne Stafford, sister to the Duke of Buckingham.
  • 3. Sir George Herbert of St. Julians.
  • 4. Philip Herbert of Lanyhangel.
  • 5. Cecilie Herbert.
  • 6. Maud Herbert, Countess of Northumberland. Married Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland.
  • 7. Katherine Herbert. Married George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent.
  • 8. Anne Herbert. Married John Grey, 1st Baron Grey of Powis, 9th Lord of Powys (died 1497).
  • 9. Isabel Herbert. Married Sir Thomas Cokesey.
  • 10. Margaret Herbert. Married first Thomas Talbot, 2nd Viscount Lisle and secondly Sir Henry Bodringham.

William had three illegitimate sons but the identities of their mothers are unconfirmed:

  • Sir Richard Herbert of Ewyas. Father of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (10th Creation). Probably son of Maud, daughter of Adam ap Howell Graunt (Gwynn).
  • Sir George Herbert. The son of Frond verch Hoesgyn. Married Sybil Croft.[2]
  • Sir William Herbert of Troye. Son of Frond verch Hoesgyn. Married, second, Blanche Whitney (née Milborne) see Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy. They had two sons.[3]
  • From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert,_1st_Earl_of_Pembroke_(died_1469) _____________________
  • Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl Pembroke, 1st Lord Herbert, Sheriff of Glamorgan & Morgannock, Chief Justice of North & South Wales1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11
  • M, #21884, b. circa 1423, d. 27 July 1469
  • Father Sir William ap Thomas, Sheriff of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, & Glamorganshire, Steward of Abergavenny2,5,10 b. c 1401, d. 1446
  • Mother Gwladys Gam2,5,10 b. c 1380, d. 1454
  • Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl Pembroke, 1st Lord Herbert, Sheriff of Glamorgan & Morgannock, Chief Justice of North & South Wales married Mawd Turberville, daughter of Adam Turberville, NOT MARRIED; By various mistresses, he had 6 sons (Richard, Esq; Philip; William; Thomas; John; & William).5 Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl Pembroke, 1st Lord Herbert, Sheriff of Glamorgan & Morgannock, Chief Justice of North & South Wales was born circa 1423 at of Raglan, Monmouthshire, England.2,5,10 He married Anne Devereux, daughter of Sir Walter Devereux, Sheriff of Herefordshire & Gloucestershire, Constable of Wigmore, Keeper of Leominster and Elizabeth Merbury, circa 1455; They had 3 sons (Sir William, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, 2nd Lord Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon; Sir Walter; & Sir George) and 7 daughters (Maud, wife of Sir Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, 7th Lord Percy; Katherine, wife of Sir George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent; Anne, wife of John, Lord Grey of Powis; Margaret, wife of Sir Thomas Talbot, 2nd Viscount Lisle, & of Sir Walter Bodrugan; Cecily, wife of John Greystoke; Elizabeth, wife of Sir Thomas Cokesey; & Crisli, wife of Mr. Cornwall).2,3,4,5,6,9,10,11 Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl Pembroke, 1st Lord Herbert, Sheriff of Glamorgan & Morgannock, Chief Justice of North & South Wales died on 27 July 1469 at Northampton, Northamptonshire, England; Beheaded. Buried at Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, Wales.2,5,10 His estate was probated on 30 August 1469; By various mistresses, he had 6 more sons (Richard, Esq; Philip; Sir William; Thomas; John; & William).5,10
  • Family 1 Mawd Turberville
  • Children
    • Elizabeth (Eleanor) Herbert+12
    • Richard Herbert, Gentleman Usher to Henry VII+ b. c 1442, d. 12 Sep 1510
  • Family 2 Anne Devereux b. c 1433, d. a 25 Jun 1486
  • Children
    • Maud Herbert+13,5,6,7,8,10,11 b. c 1456, d. bt 17 Jul 1485 - 24 Feb 1489
    • Sir George Herbert b. c 1457
    • Sir William Herbert, 2nd Lord Herbert, 1st Earl Huntingdon & 2nd Earl of Pembroke+14,5,10 b. c 1458, d. 16 Jul 1491
    • Sir Walter Herbert15 b. c 1458, d. 16 Sep 1507
    • Katherine Herbert+4,5,16,9,10 b. c 1459
    • Anne Herbert+ b. c 1462
    • Margaret Herbert b. c 1463, d. b 1503
    • Cecilia Herbert b. c 1464, d. 1499
    • Elizabeth Herbert b. c 1465
  • Family 3
  • Child
    • William Herbert+2 b. c 1466
  • Family 4 Frond ferch Hoesgyn b. c 1440
  • Child
    • Sir William Herbert15 b. c 1468, d. 1524
  • Citations
  • 1.[S2595] Unknown author, The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants, by Gary Boyd Roberts, p. 391.
  • 2.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 395.
  • 3.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. II, p. 3.
  • 4.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. II, p. 280-281.
  • 5.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. II, p. 388-389.
  • 6.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 346-347.
  • 7.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. IV, p. 85.
  • 8.[S4] Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. I, p. 157.
  • 9.[S4] Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 132-133.
  • 10.[S4] Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 278.
  • 11.[S4] Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. IV, p. 359.
  • 12.[S74] Brent Ruesch's Research Notes.
  • 13.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 579.
  • 14.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 395-396.
  • 15.[S61] Unknown author, Family Group Sheets, Family History Archives, SLC.
  • 16.[S6] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry: 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 109.
  • From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p729.htm#i... ______________________
  • William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke1
  • M, #40499, b. circa 1423, d. 27 July 1469
  • Last Edited=3 Dec 2010
  • William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke was born circa 1423.2 He was the son of Sir William ap Thomas and Gladys Gam.3 He married Anne Devereux, daughter of Sir Walter Devereux and Elizabeth Merbury. He died on 27 July 1469 at Banbury, Northamptonshire, England, beheaded.1,4 He was buried at Tintern Abbey, Chapel Hill, Monmouthshire, Wales.4
  • He held the office of Chief Justice of South Wales.1 He held the office of Chamberlain of South Wales.1 He was created 1st Lord Herbert [England by writ] on 26 July 1461.1 He was created 1st Earl of Pembroke [England] on 8 September 1468.1
  • Children of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Devereux
    • 1.Lady Catherine Herbert+5 d. b 8 May 1504
    • 2.Lady Maud Herbert+2 b. 1448, d. a 1485
  • Children of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke
    • 1.Mary Herbert6
    • 2.William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke+1 b. 5 Mar 1451, d. 16 Jul 1491
  • Citations
  • 1.[S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume VI, page 440. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
  • 2.[S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume X, page 401.
  • 3.[S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume X, page 400.
  • 4.[S2064] Susan Franz, "re: Bonville Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 7 January 2007. Hereinafter cited as "re: Bonville Family."
  • 5.[S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume VII, page 167.
  • 6.[S37] Volume 1, page 348. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
  • From: http://www.thepeerage.com/p4050.htm#i40499 ______________________
  • William HERBERT (1º E. Pembroke)
  • Born: 1423, Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales
  • Acceded: 1468, created by Edward IV
  • Died: 27 Jul 1469, Banbury, Oxfordshire / Northamptonshire, England
  • Buried: Tintern Abbey
  • Notes: Knight of the Garter. Leading Yorkist in War of Roses. Captured by Lancastrians and beheaded 1469 at Banbury.
  • Father: William Ap THOMAS HERBERT (Sir Knight)
  • Mother: Gladys GAM
  • Married: Anne DEVEREUX (C. Pembroke) ABT 1440, Hereford, Herefordshire, England
  • Children:
    • 1. Maud HERBERT (C. Northumberland)
    • 2. William HERBERT (1º E. Huntingdon)
    • 3. Walter HERBERT (Sir Knight)
    • 4. George HERBERT
    • 5. Phillip HERBERT
    • 6. John HERBERT
    • 7. Margaret HERBERT
    • 8. Thomas HERBERT
    • 9. Cecily HERBERT
    • 10. Isabel HERBERT
    • 11. Anne HERBERT
    • 12. Catherine HERBERT (C. Kent)
  • Associated with: Maud TURBERVILLE Ap HOWELL GRANT
  • Children:
    • 13. Richard HERBERT (Sir)
    • 14. John HERBERT
  • Associated with: Frond Verch HOESGYN
  • Children:
    • 15. Anne HERBERT
    • 16. George HERBERT (Sir Knight)
    • 17. William HERBERT of Troye (Sir)
  • From: http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/HERBERT1.htm#William HERBERT (1º E. Pembroke)1 __________________________

SIR WILLIAM HERBERT, EARL OF PEMBROKE, was elder son of William Herbert of Raglan Castle, called also William ap Thomas, and in Welsh Margoah Glas, or Gumrhi, who fought in France under Henry V, and was made a knight-banneret in 1415. Herbert's mother was Gladys, daughter and heiress of David Gam, and widow of Sir Robert Vaughan. Sir Richard Herbert of Colebrook was a younger brother. Sir William's grandfather, Thomas ap Gwillim ap Jenkin (d.1438), secured Raglan Castle on his marriage with Maud, daughter and heiress of Sir John Morley.

The Herbert family claimed descent from 'Herbertus Camerarius,' a companion of William I, and his son 'Henry Thesaurarius,' both of whom were tenants in capite in Hampshire.1 The descendants of Henry Thesaurarius in the fifteenth-century claimed that he was 'son natural of King Henry the First,' and that they were thus connected with 'the Royal Blood of the Crown of England,'2 but the pretension contradicts established fact. Peter, the great-grandson of Henry Thesaurarius, seems to have been the first of the family to settle in Wales. He received from John in 1210 many grants of land there forfeited by William of Braose, Peter's descendants by intermarriages with Welsh heiresses acquired very large estates in South-east Wales, and practically became Welshmen.

Herbert was a warrior from his youth. He was knighted by Henry VI in 1449, and in 1450 was on active service in France under the Duke of Somerset. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Formigny in 1450, but was apparently soon released. He played a prominent part on the side of the Yorkists in the Wars of the Roses. In Wales he did very notable service against Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, Henry, Duke of Exeter, James, Earl of Wiltshire.

On 1 May 1457 it was reported that the Lancastrians had offered him his life and goods if he would come to Leicester and ask pardon of Henry VI; but the Yorkists were still strong, and he remained faithful to them.3 On Edward IV's accession Herbert was made a privy councillor (10 March 1461). On 8 May following he was granted the offices of chief justice and chamberlain of South Wales, and some sub-ordinate posts; on 7 Sept. he was made steward of those castles, including that of Brecknock in South Wales, which had belonged to Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham. On 4 Nov. he was created Baron Herbert, and received in consideration of his services the castle, town, and lordship of Pembroke, with numerous manors and castles on the Welsh marches.

On 29 April 1462 he appeared in the House of Lords, and was made a knight of the Garter. Shortly afterwards he joined Edward IV in an expedition to the north of England, where Lancastrians still held out. In 1463 he was appointed justice in Merionetshire, and received new grants of land, including Dunster, and those manors in Devonshire and Suffolk which had been forfeited by Sir James Luttrell. On 3 June 1466 he was in London, and accompanied Edward IV on a visit to the Archbishop of York [George Neville]. In 1467 he was nominated chief justice of North Wales for life, and made constable of Carmarthen and Cardigan castles.

In August 1468 Pembroke and his brother, Sir Richard, advanced against the castle of Harlech, the last Lancastrian stronghold in Wales, where Jasper Tudor, with his young nephew Henry (afterwards Henry VII), still resisted the power of Edward IV. After a siege the castle, although strongly fortified, surrendered, but Sir Richard promised the governor to do what he could to save his life. Sir Richard petitioned Edward IV to that effect, and the request was unwillingly granted. Herbert seems to have taken Prince Henry prisoner, and he was appointed his guardian; but a plan to marry Henry to his daughter Maud failed.

He was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Pembroke (8 Sept. 1468), after the attainder of Jasper Tudor, and received the manor of Haverfordwest and the offices of chief forester of Snowdon and constable of Conway Castle. Soon afterwards the two brothers proceeded to Anglesey to apprehend seven brothers who had been guilty of 'many mischiefs and murders.' The mother pleaded strongly with Pembroke to spare the lives of two of her sons. Richard seconded her prayer, but Pembroke refused to yield, and executed all. Whereupon the mother cursed him on her knees, 'praying God's mischief might fall to him in the first battle he should make.'

Meanwhile Pembroke and the Earl of Warwick had quarrelled. Pembroke, it is said, desired to marry his infant son to the daughter of Lord Bonvile, and Warwick opposed the arrangement. Pembroke thenceforth sought to widen the breach which was threatening the king's relations with Warwick, and as early as 1466 he had captured in Wales a messenger of Queen Margaret of Anjou, with whom he showed that Warwick was intriguing. In January 1467 the disagreement seemed subsiding, and Pembroke and Warwick both attended a meeting of the king's council.

But in July 1469 a rebellion, which was largely fomented by Warwick, broke out in the north. The rebels declared for Henry VI, and rapidly marched south. Pembroke readily prepared an army of Welshmen to resist their progress. He and his brother were ordered with their army to join at Banbury a strong detachment of archers under the command of Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devonshire, and to intercept the enemy there. The first part of the manoeuvre was successfully accomplished. But a skirmish between a detachment of Pembroke's army under Sir Richard and some rebel troops ended in the total rout of the former.

Immediately afterwards Pembroke and Devonshire encamped at Hedgecote, near Banbury. A quarrel between the commanders, however, caused Devonshire to lead his archers away, almost in presence of the enemy. On 26 July Pembroke, with his strength thus seriously impaired, was forced to give battle [Battle of Edgecote]. Panic seized his Welsh followers. He and his brother fought desperately. Sir Richard is said to have twice passed through the 'battail of his adversaries,' armed with a poleaxe, and 'without any mortal wound returned.'But the defeat was decisive, and both brothers were taken prisoners.

Pembroke pleaded for his brother's life in vain, on the ground of his youth; he declared that he was willing to die. On 27 July he made his will, giving directions for his funeral, making many pious bequests to Tintern Abbey and other religious foundations, and providing almshouses for the relief of six poor men. On 28 July Pembroke and Sir Richard were brought to Northampton and beheaded there. Pembroke was buried in Tintern Abbey, and Sir Richard in Abergavenny Church, where his wife Margaret was also buried.

Pembroke married Anne, daughter of Sir Walter Devereux, lord Ferrers of Chartley, and had by her four sons, William, Walter, George, and Philip, and six daughters. By a mistress, Maud, daughter of Adam ap Howell Graunt, he had some illegitimate issue, including Sir Richard Herbert, father of Sir William, first earl of Pembroke of the second creation (1501-1570).


1469

Beheaded after defeat at battle of Edgecote

Burial: Tintern Abbey, Chapel Hill, Monmouth, Eng.
Raglan, stately and handsome, is perhaps deceptive. The might of itsangular towers bears comparison with the great castles of Edward I, andsuggests its origins lay in the bitter conflicts of the later 13thcentury. In face it belongs mainly to the 15th century, and was as much aproduct of social aspiration as it was of military necessity.


Lord William Herbert of Raglan Castle, Monmouthshire, England, First Earl Of Pembroke, Order of the Garter. Beheaded after losing a battle at Banbury July 27, 1469. Wilton House Wiltshire, England


William HERBERT K.G., 1st Earl of Pembroke 411,10601,12936

Born: Abt 1423, Raglan Castle, Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales 10601 Married (1): Abt 1455 411,2223,10601 Married (2): No Marriage 411,2223 Died: 27 Jul 1469, Battle of Edgecote, Banbury, Northamptonshire, England (beheaded) 2223,10601 Buried: Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, Wales

  General Notes:

William, took surname Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, so created 8 Sep 1468, as also earlier 26 July 1461 Baron Herbert/Herberd by writ, KG (1461/2); knighted 1449, served Hundred Years War (captured by French 1450 at Formigny), Yorkist during War of the Roses, Sheriff of Glamorgan and Morgannoc and Constable of Usk Castle 1459, MP Herefs 1460-61, Chief Justice and Chamberlain of South Wales 1461, granted 3 Feb 1461/2 castle, town and lordship of Pembroke, with other castles, following surrender of Pembroke Castle to him by Lancastrians five months previously, Chief Justice of North Wales 1467; married c1455 Anne (living 1486), daughter of Sir Walter Devereux, and was beheaded 27 July 1469 following his capture at the Battle of Edgcot, near Banbury, Oxon, one or three days earlier; The 1st Earl of Pembroke of the 1468 creation also had two or more illegitimate sons; one of them, by Mawd, daughter of Adam (Turberville) ap William ap Howell Graunt. [Burke's Peerage]


BARONY OF HERBERT (I) 1461

EARLDOM OF PEMBROKE (XVII, 1) 1468

WILLIAM HERBERT, 2nd son of Sir William AP THOMAS (died 1446), of Raglan Castle, by his 2nd wife, Gwladys (died 1454), widow of Sir Roger VAUGHAN, of Bredwardine, and daughter of Sir David GAM (b), was born circa 1423. He was knighted by Henry VI 25 December1449. In 1450 he served in France and was captured at Formigny, He was an ardent Yorkist, and in 1457 caused a disturbance in Hereford. In 1459 he was appointed Sheriff of Glamorgan and Morgannoc, and Constable of Usk Castle. He was M.P. for co. Hereford 1460-61. In February 1460/1 he fought at Mortimer's Cross under Edward, who appointed him Chief Justice and Chamberlain of South Wales, 8 May 1461. He was summoned to Parliament by writ, 26 July 1461, directed "Willielmo Herberd de Herberd militi," whereby he is held to have become LORD HERBERT. On 30 September 1461 Pembroke Castle surrendered to him, and on 3 February 1461/2 he was granted the castle, town and lordship of Pembroke, with other castles, &c. K.G. 21 March 1461/2. On 28 August 1467 he was appointed Chief Justice of North Wales. After a long siege he took Harlech Castle, 14 August 1468; and on 8 September 1468 he was created EARL OF PEMBROKE. On 24 or 26 July 1469 he was defeated and captured by Robin of Redesdale at Edgcott, co. Northampton.

He married, circa 1455, Anne, sister of Walter (DEVEREUX), LORD FERRERS, and daughter of Sir Walter DEVEREUX, of Bodenham, co. Hereford, by Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir John MERBURY. He was beheaded 27 July 1469, at Northampton, and was buried at Tintern Abbey. His widow was living in Wales 25 June 1486. [Complete Peerage X:400-1, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(b) William was 5th son of Thomas ap Gwilym ap Jenkin (d. 1438), by Maud, daughter of Sir John Morley. He bought Raglan Castle from James, Lord Berkeley, son of Sir James Berkeley, whose widow Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Bluet, was his 1st wife. A spurious pedigree from Herbert the Chamberlain (of Henry I), who is given an equally false descent from Herbert, Count of Vermandois, is set forth by Nicholas, 'Counties and County Families of Wales'.


When the Lancastrian insurrection [War of Roses] broke out in 1469, Edward IV commissioned the Sir William Herbert, Knight, Earl of Pembroke, and his brother, Sir Richard Herbert, Knight of Coldbrook, to command an army of 18,000 Welshmen against the rebels. In July of 1469, the army was defeated at the Battle of Edgecote. The Herberts were captured by Richard, earl of Warwick and beheaded the next day in Northamptonshire. They were buried in the priory chapel on July 27, 1469, beneath the arch which separates the Herbert Chapel & the choir in St. Mary's Priory Church.


Copied from Herbert, George biography, 88.1911 encyclopedia.org/H/HERBERT_GEORGE.htm:

His sons William and Richard both partisans of the White Rose, took the surname of Herbert in or before 1461. Playing a part in English affairs remote fron the Welsh Marches, their lack of a surname may well hav inconvenienced them, and their choice of the name Herbert can only be explained by the suggestion that their long pedigree from Herbert the Chamberlain, absurdly represented as a bastard son of Henry I, must already have been discovered for them. Copies exist of an alleged commission issued by Edward IV to a committee of Welsh bards for the ascertaining of the true ancestry of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, whom "th chiefest men of skill in the province of South Wales declar to be the descendant of Herbert, a noble lord, natural son b King Henry the first", and it is recited that King Edward, after the creation of the earldom, commanded the Earl and Sir Richard his brother to "take their surnames after their first progenito Herbert fitz Roy and to forego the British order and Inanner". But this commission, whose date anticipates by some years the true date of the creation of the earldom, is the work of one of the many genealogical forgers who flourished under the Tudors.

Sir William Herbert, called by the Welsh Gwilim Ddu or Black William, was a baron in 1461 and a Knight of the Garter in the following year. With many manors and castles on the Marches he had the castle, town and lordship of Pembroke, and after the attainder of Jasper Tudor in 1468 was created Earl of Pembroke. When in July 1469 he was taken by Sir John Conyers and the northern Lancastrians on Hedgecote, he was beheaded along with his brother Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook.

The second Earl while still a minor exchanged at the king’s desire in 1479 his Earldom of Pembroke for that of Huntingdon. In 1484 this son of one whom Hall not unjustly describes as born "a mean gentleman" contracted to marry Katharine the daughter of King Richard III, but her death annulled the contract and the Earl married Mary, daughter of the Earl Rivers, by whom he had a daughter Elizabeth, whose descendants, the Somersets, lived in the Herbert’s castle of Raglan until the cannon of the parliament broke it in ruins. With the second Earl’s death in 1491 the first Herbert Earldom became extinct. No claim being set up among the other descendants of the first Earl, it may be taken that their lines were illegitimate. One of the chief difficulties which beset the genealogist of the Herberts lies in their Cambrian disregard of the marriage tie, bastards and legitimate issue growing up, it would seem, side by side in their patriarchal households. Thus the ancestor of the present Earls of Pembroke and Carnarvon and of the Herbert who was created marquess of Powis was a natural son of the first Earl, one Richard Herbert, whom the restored inscription on his tomb at Abergavenny incorrectly describes as a knight. He was constable and porter of Abergavenny Castle, and his son William, "a mad fighting fellow" in his youth, married a sister of Catherine Parr and thus in 1543 became nearly allied to the king, who made him one of the executors of his will. The Earldom of Pembroke was revived for him in 1551. It is worthy of note that’all traces of illegitimacy have long since been removed from the arms of the noble descendants of Richard Herbert.


on the history of the Earldom of Huntingdon:

Eight years later William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, gave up his existing Earldom to the Crown and was made in compensation Earl of Huntingdon. So even at this late date a peerage title could be treated as something which one could simply resign. [Burke's Peerage, p. 1474] 411

  Marriage Information:

William married Anne DEVEREUX, daughter of Walter DEVEREUX of Bodenham & Weobley, Sir and Elizabeth MERBURY Heiress of Kinnersley, about 1455 411,2223,10601. (Anne DEVEREUX was born about 1430 in Bodenham, Leominster, Herefordshire, England and died in 1486 in Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales 2223,10601.)

   Marriage Information:

William also married Mawd TURBERVILLE, daughter of Adam TURBERVILLE and Unknown, in No Marriage 411,2223. (Mawd TURBERVILLE was born about 1427 in Llanfaiscilgedin, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales.)

HERBERT , WILLIAM (d. 1469 ), earl of Pembroke , soldier and statesman ; son of Sir William ap Thomas of Raglan and Gwladus , daughter of Dafydd Gam (q.v.) . He served with the English forces in Normandy with his countryman Mathew Gough (q.v.) , was taken prisoner at Formigny ( April 1450 ), and knighted at Christmas, 1450 . In the struggle between Lancaster and York his interests, if not also his sympathies, inclined him to favour the Yorkists , for their strength on the borders of South Wales was overwhelming. However, he made his peace with the king and queen Margaret in 1452 , and again at Leicester in 1457 . During the next few years he was loyal to the Crown , and this partly explains the Yorkist panic at Ludford ( 12 Oct. 1459 ). As a reward he received extensive grants from the confiscated estates of York and Warwick ( 5 Feb. 1460 ). In 1459 he m. Anne Devereux , sister of Walter , lord Ferrers of Chartley . After the battle of Northampton ( July 1460 ) Warwick gave him extensive authority in South Wales . In Oct. he represented Hereford in Parliament . Henceforth he threw in his lot with the Yorkists , and this largely explains their victory at Mortimer's Cross ( 2 Feb. 1461 ). His rise in royal favour was now rapid. He was made a privy chancellor , and was present at Baynard's castle when the earl of March was proclaimed king as Edward IV ( Mar. 1461 ). At the coronation he became lord Herbert of Raglan ( 4 Nov. ). He was chief justice and chamberlain of South Wales . During the next few years Edward IV showered favours upon him ‘to the secret displeasure of the earl of Warwick .’ Having received the submission of Pembroke castle , a Lancastrian stronghold, Herbert was given the custody of the young Henry , earl of Richmond , whom he betrothed in his will to his daughter Maud ; he was made a K.G. ( April 1462 ) and became a member of the king's Inner Council . The feud between Herbert and Warwick became embittered when Herbert 's son and heir, William , was made lord Dunster ( Sept. 1466 ), and especially when Herbert accompanied the king to demand the Great Seal from the Chancellor , Warwick 's brother, George , archbishop of York ( June 1467 ). Next year ( July 1468 ), Herbert was commissioned to reduce Harlech , still held by the Lancastrians ; the castle surrendered in Aug. As his reward Herbert received the earldom of Pembroke ( 8 Sept. ). In a striking poem, Guto'r Glyn (q.v.) now appealed to Herbert to become a national leader and rid Wales of English officials. However, he was defeated by Warwick 's forces at Edgecote ( July 1469 ), taken prisoner , and executed . This defeat was regarded by contemporary Welsh poets as a national calamity. Bibliography:

Contemporary chronicles and letters; references in Welsh poems, etc.; Calendar of Patent Rolls . Record Publication, 1891 ff ; The Rolls of Parliament ; Rymer , Foedera conventiones, litteræ, et cujuscunque generis acta publica, inter reges Angliæ et alios quosuis imperatores, reges, pontifices, principes, vel communitates, ab ingressu Gulielmi I. in Angliam, A.D. 1066, ad nostra usque tempora habita aut tractata ex autographis, infra secretiores archivorum regiorum thesaurarias, asservatis, aliisque summæ vetustatis instrumentis, ad historiam anglicanam spectantibus, fideliter exscripta , 1816-1830, 1869 ; H. T. Evans , Wales and the Wars of the Roses , 1915 . Author:

Howell Thomas Evans, M.A. (1878-1950), Aberaeron

  • ______________________________

See Peter Bartrum, https://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/4861/Godwin%... (January 6, 2018; Anne Brannen, curator)

view all 39

William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke's Timeline

1423
1423
Raglan Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales (United Kingdom)
1423
Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom
1440
1440
Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales
1442
1442
Of St. Julian's, Llebenydd, Monmouthshire, England
1444
1444
Llnfhngl Clcrnl, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, England
1446
1446
Troye, Mon, England
1448
1448
Ragland, Monmouthshire, England
1456
1456
Probably Ragland, Monmouthshire, Wales