Social Victorians/People/Pembroke

Also Known As

• Family name: Herbert
• Herbert is also the family name of the Earl of Carnarvon and the Earl of Powis
• Earl of Pembroke (Peerage of England, first created 1138; most recent creation 1551)
  • George Robert Charles Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke (25 April 1862 – 3 May 1895)
  • Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke, 11th Earl of Montgomery (3 May 1895 – 30 March 1913)
• Earl of Montgomery
• Subsidiary titles
  • Baron Herbert of Cardiff, of Cardiff in the County of Glamorgan (1551), Peerage of England
  • Baron Herbert of Shurland, of Shurland in the Isle of Sheppey in the County of Kent (1605), Peerage of England
  • Baron Herbert of Lea, of Lea in the County of Wilts (1861), Peerage of the United Kingdom
• The Hon. Sidney Herbert (1861–1895)

Organizations

Sidney Herbert, Earl Pembroke

• Eton
• Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1875)
• Member of Parliament, Conservative, for Wilton, Wiltshire (1877–1885)
• Member of Parliament, Conservative, for Croyden (1886–1895)
• President, Marylebone Cricket Club (1896)
• Lord Steward of the Household (1895–1905)

Timeline

1877 August 29, the Hon. Sidney Herbert and Lady Beatrix Louisa Lambton married.

1895 May 3, Sidney Herbert succeeded his brother as Earl of Pembroke.

1897 July 2, Friday, the 14th Earl and Countess of Pembroke (Sidney and Beatrix Herbert) attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House, as did their daughter Lady Beatrix Herbert. (Beatrix Herbert, Countess Pembroke is #146 on the list of people who were present; Sidney Herbert, Earl Pembroke is #181; Lady Beatrix Herbert is #648.)

Beatrix, Countess of Pembroke as Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, after the picture by Marcus Gheeraedts. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Beatrix Herbert, Countess Pembroke sat at Table 3 for the first supper seating, and Sidney Herbert, Earl Pembroke sat at Table 8, marking them both as high status at this high-status event.

Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke

Lady Beatrix, Countess of Pembroke

Lafayette's portrait of "Beatrix Louisa (née Lambton), Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery as Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, after the picture by Marcus Gheeraedts" in costume is photogravure #273 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "The Countess of Pembroke as Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, after the picture by Marcus Gheeraedts," with a Long S in Countess both times.

Newspaper Description of Costume

The Queen published a line drawing of this costume, although the costume in the drawing does not resemble the one in the photograph at all. It is #5 in the center below the drawing, center of page, facing ¾ to her right, left hand at her shoulder, right hand holding one end of her sash or belt. The Countess of Pembroke is identified as wearing the costume shown in drawing #5, and while it is unidentified, #6 is not a drawing of her costume, either.

• Made by Mrs Mason, 4, New Burlington Street, W. … No. 5. COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE, a Copy of an Ancestress at Wilton. — Underdress of soft white muslin, draped over satin, and twisted scarf of powder blue velvet, with pearl tassels. Coat of Titian orange silk. Magnificent diamond and pearl ornaments."

Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke

The portrait (left) of Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke was painted by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger in 1614. The text on the painting says "March 12 Anno Domini 1614 No spring till now." The case the National Portrait Gallery, London, makes for the identity of the painter is strong, but the case for the sitter as "Probably Mary (née Throckmorton), Lady Scudamore" is weaker and widely disputed. It seems clear, however, that Beatrix, Countess of Pembroke thought the painting was of Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, as this portrait seems to be the original of her costume.

Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke in costume as William, 1st Earl of Pembroke after Holbein. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Sidney, Earl of Pembroke

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

Lafayette's portrait of "Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke, 11th Earl of Montgomery as William, 1st Earl of Pembroke after Holbein" in costume is photogravure #274 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Earl of Pembroke as William 1st Earl of Pembroke after Holbein."

William Herbert was the 1st Earl of Pembroke of the 10th creation of the title in 1551. William, Earl of Pembroke (c. 1501 – 17 March 1570) was not married to Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke. The portrait of the 1st Earl of Pembroke was painted in 1657. It was recorded as being in the possession of the Duke of Leeds, Hornby Castle, Yorkshire in 1824, where perhaps Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke could have seen it.

This portrait was not painted by Holbein, but it does seem to be closely related to the costume Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke wore to the ball because of the pattern on the trunks, the striped top worn under the cloak, the double row of decorative buttons on the cloak, the staff, the gloves in his left hand, the sword, and the hat.

Lady Beatrix Herbert in costume as Giovanna Bacelli after Gainsborough. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Signora Giovanna Baccelli, by Thomas Gainsborough, 1782

Lady Beatrix Herbert

Lady Beatrix Frances Gertrude Herbert, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Pembroke, was not mentioned in any press reports, but her portrait was in the commemorative album of portraits.

Alice Hughes's portrait of "Beatrix Frances Gertrude (née Herbert), Countess of Wicklow as Signora Bacelli after Gainsborough" in costume is photogravure #116 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Beatrice Herbert as Signora Bacelli after Gainsborough."

Giovanna Baccelli (1753–1801) was the principal ballerina at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, London, and unmarried partner of John Sackville, Duke of Dorset. Sackville commissioned Thomas Gainesborough to paint this portrait (right) of Baccelli dancing in 1780–1781, the peak of Baccelli's career; she is shown in costume and stage makeup. Now in the Tate, the portrait was at Knole, seat of the Duke of Dorset, until 1890 but it was not acquired by the Tate until 1975. It is not clear where Lady Beatrix could have seen this painting unless it was in an exhibition somewhere.

Because the color blue is notoriously difficult to recognize in black-and-white photography, it is not at all surprising that the ribbons Lady Beatrix wore in her costume do not look like they are a different color from the dress. The pose, the hat, the sleeves, the styling of the hair, and the late-Victorian interpretation of the skirt all point to Gainsborough's portrait as the original for this costume.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Residences

• Wilton House, Wiltshire

Family

• Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke, 11th Earl of Montgomery (20 February 1853 – 30 March 1913)
• Lady Beatrix Louisa Lambton (1859 – 12 March 1944)

1. Lady Beatrix Frances Gertrude Herbert (1878 – 3 December 1957)
2. Reginald Herbert, 15th Earl of Pembroke (8 September 1880 – 13 January 1960)
3. Lady Muriel Katherine Herbert (1883 – 13 February 1951)
4. Sir George Sidney Herbert, 1st and last Bt. (8 October 1886 – 30 January 1942)

Relations

• Lady Beatrix Louisa Lambton was the eldest daughter and 5th child of George Frederick D'Arcy Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham.
• Sidney Herbert's mother was Mary Elizabeth À Court Repington.