George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke

Pembroke was the eldest son of Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea, only son of George Augustus Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke, by his second wife Catherine (née Countess Woronzow).[1] His mother was Elizabeth Herbert, Baroness Herbert of Lea, daughter of Lieutenant-General Charles Ashe A'Court. He succeeded his father in the barony of Herbert of Lea in 1861 and the following year he inherited the earldom of Pembroke on the death of his uncle.[2]

Pembroke served as Under-Secretary of State for War from 1874 to 1875 in the second Conservative administration of Benjamin Disraeli.[3]

Lord Pembroke never accepted office again, and rarely spoke in the House of Lords, but he continued to take a keen interest in public affairs, both imperial and domestic, and communicated his views, through various periodicals and by speeches in the country, upon Ireland, the land question, imperial defence, and the navy. He took a leading part in the volunteer movement, holding a commission for upwards of twenty years, and commanding the South Wilts battalion until within a few months of his death. He believed firmly in the advantage of technical instruction, and gave practical proof thereof by building and endowing the Pembroke technical school near Dublin. Lord Pembroke was a good sportsman, having been first a master of harriers for many years, and later of foxhounds; but a bad fall put an end to his hunting, and latterly he spent much of his time afloat, yachting and boat-sailing.[4]

Lord Pembroke married Lady Gertrude Frances, daughter of Henry Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1874. He died in Frankfurt on 3 May 1895, aged 44, and was succeeded in his titles by his younger brother the Honourable Sidney Herbert. The Countess of Pembroke died in September 1906, aged 66.[2]

• Ellenberger, Nancy W. Balfour's World: Aristocracy and Political Culture at the Fin de Siècle (2015). excerpt