Lady Anne HERBERT


“HERBERT, Sir RICHARD, KNIGHT, “of Montgomery,” was the first of the Herbert family, it appears, to settle in Montgomeryshire, and which he did about the year 1520. He was a younger son of Sir Richard Herbert, of Colebroke, near Abergavenny (22nd lineal descendant of Charlemagne) — “an Anakim in stature,” and a redoubtable warrior of whose prowess several instances are recorded. Among others it is said that at the battle of Dauesmore, near Banbury, where he was eventually defeated and taken prisoner, and three days afterwards beheaded, he, with pole-axe in hand, passed and re-passed twice through the enemy’s army, killing with his own hand, it is said, 140 men without receiving any mortal wound. Sir Richard Herbert, of Montgomery, was knighted by Henry VIII about the year 1510, and received a grant of Montgomery Castle and its dependencies. He is also described as Constable of Aberystwyth, and Lewis Glyn Cothi addressed an ode to him as such. His great grandson. Lord Herbert, of Chirbury, says that he

“Was steward in the time of King Henry the eighth of the lordships and marches of North Wales, East Wales, and Cardiganshire, and had power in a martial law to execute offenders; in the lising thereof he was so just, that he acquired to himself a singidar reputation, as may appear upon the records of tliat time, kept in the paper chamber at Whitehall, some touch whereof I have made in my History of Henry the eighth; of him I can say little more than that he likewise was a great suppressor of rebels, thieves, and outlaws, and that he was just and conscionable; for if a false or cruel person had that power committed to his hands, he would have raised a great fortune out of it, whereof he left little, save what his father gave him, unto posterity.”

This eulogy appears to have been quite deserved, for his administration, while it was vigorous, was yet wise and liberal. He was one of the foremost among the leading gentry of Montgomeryshire to petition the king for a further diminution of the powers of the Lords Marcher, and that “the petycioners might “have theire sheriff somoned hevery yeare, as they be in the sheires of Englunde” — a request which was afterwards complied with. He died about the year 1540, and “lyeth buried in Montgomery ; the upper monument of the two placed in the chancell being erected for him.” He was twice married; firstly, to Jane, daughter of William ap Rees, by whom he had three sons and one daughter; and secondly, to Anne, daughter of David Ap Evan ab Llewelyn Vaughan, of Trefeglwys, by whom he had five sons and five daughters.”

Taken from: Montgomeryshire Worthies (1894) by Richard Williams

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *