Aubrey Herbert - Background

Background

Aubrey Herbert was the second son of Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, a wealthy landowner, British cabinet minister and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and his second wife, Elizabeth Howard of Greystoke Castle, Cumberland, sister of Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith. He was a half-brother to George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, the famous Egyptologist who discovered King Tutankhamen's tomb. He was afflicted with eye problems which left him nearly blind from early childhood, losing all his sight towards the end of his life.

Herbert was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford University, where he obtained a first class degree in modern history. He was famous for climbing the roofs of the university buildings, despite his near blindness. He numbered among his friends Adrian Carton De Wiart, Raymond Asquith, John Buchan and Hilaire Belloc. Reginald Farrer remained close throughout his life.

His friendship with Middle Eastern traveller and advisor Sir Mark Sykes dates from his entry into parliament in 1911 when, with George Lloyd, they were the three youngest Conservative MPs. They shared an interest in foreign policy and worked closely together in the Arab Bureau (1916). Herbert was also a close friend of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia); their letters do not feature in the standard Lawrence collections, but are quoted by Margaret Fitzherbert in the biography of her grandfather, The Man Who Was Greenmantle.