HERBERT, William IV (by 1530-67), of St. Julian's, Mon.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. by 1530, 1st s. of Sir Walter Herbert of St. Julian’s by 1st w. Mary, da. of Sir William Morgan of Pencoed; bro. of George. m. (1) by 1554, Jane, da. and coh. of Edward Gruffydd of Penrhyn, Caern., 1s. William; (2) by 1567, Dorothy. suc. fa. Sept. 1550/Feb. 1551.1

Offices Held

Sheriff, Mon. Feb.-Nov. 1551, 1563-4; j.p. 1558/59-d.2

Biography

William Herbert’s father died during his year as sheriff and there can be little doubt that it was Herbert who completed the term. He was not to enjoy the power and prestige accorded to his father in South Wales and he makes only occasional appearances in the records. Of his Membership of the Parliament of 1555 all that is known is that he was not among those who opposed one of the government’s bills, unlike his fellow-knight and relative William Morgan. According to Herbert the pair were re-elected to the following Parliament, in 1558, but the sheriff returned Morgan and Francis Somerset, who was a son of the 2nd Earl of Worcester. As Herbert’s father had been in Worcester’s service, the earl perhaps counted on Herbert’s acquiescence in Somerset’s return, but Herbert took the matter to the Exchequer. The case was referred back to the Monmouthshire assizes, where a jury brought in a verdict upholding the validity of Somerset’s election.3

Herbert’s marriage to one of the three daughters of Edward Gruffydd involved him in lengthy litigation against their uncle Sir Rhys Gruffydd over the partition of the Penrhyn estates. He made his will on 13 Jan. 1567 when a sick man, and asked to be buried in the church at Christchurch, Monmouthshire. To his brother George Herbert he left the lease of his heir’s lands in Anglesey and Caernarvon and all lands in Glamorgan, to his brother Miles a tenement at St. Michael’s in Llantarnam and to his sister Barbara a sum of £33 6s.8d. The remainder, including all the goods and lands in Monmouth, went to his second wife Dorothy, who was named executrix. The will, which was witnessed by Mathew Herbert, Giles Morgan and William Morgan, was proved on 7 Feb. 1567, Herbert having died on 13 Jan. possessed of lands in Monmouthshire worth more than £72 a year.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: P. S. Edwards

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from first office. Bradney, Mon. iv(2), 296, 300-1; G. T. Clark, Limbus Patrum Morganiae, 282; PCC 4 Stonard, 7 Bucke.
  • 2. CPR, 1563-6, p. 28.
  • 3. E159/338, Easter 48.
  • 4. C1/1397/3; PCC 4 Stonard; C142/146/68; Bradney, iv(2), 296.