Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea
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Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea (16 September 1810 - 2 August 1861) was an English statesman.
He was the younger son of the 11th Earl of Pembroke; his mother being the Russian noblewoman Countess Catherine Woronzoff (or Vorontsova). Educated at Harrow and Oriel College, Oxford, he made a reputation at the Oxford Union as a speaker, and entered the House of Commons as Conservative member for a division of Wiltshire in 1832. Under Peel he held minor offices, and in 1845 was included in the cabinet as Secretary at War, and again held this office in 1852 - 1855, being responsible for the War Office during the Crimean War, and again in 1859.
In the early 1840's, Sidney Herbert engaged in an affair with noted society beauty and author Caroline Norton, a woman unable to get a divorce from an abusive husband. The relationship ended when Herbert married Elizabeth Ashe A'Court, a relative of the barons Heytesbury, in 1846. After her husband's death, Elizabeth became a Roman Catholic along with their eldest daughter. Another daughter Lady Gwladys Herbert married firstly the 4th Earl of Lonsdale (issue, 1 daughter) and 2ndly the Earl De Grey, later 2nd and last Marquess of Ripon (no issue).
Herbert ran the Pembroke family estates for most of his adult life, his elder half-brother Robert having chosen to live abroad after a disastrous marriage and a subsequent liaison which resulted in illegitimate issue.
It was Sidney Herbert who sent Florence Nightingale out to the Crimea, and he led the movement for War Office reform after the war, the hard work entailed causing his breakdown in health, so that in July 1861, having been created a baron, he had to resign office, and died on the 2nd of August 1861. His statue was placed in front of the War Office in Pall Mall. He was succeeded in the title by his eldest son, who later became the 13th Earl of Pembroke, and the barony is now merged in that earldom; his second son, Sidney Herbert, was also a Member of Parliament who became 14th Earl. Another son, the Hon. Michael Herbert (1857-1904), was British Ambassador at Washington in succession to Lord Pauncefote.
Herbert Sound in the Antarctic is named after Sidney Herbert.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: None |
Member of Parliament for South Wiltshire 1832–1861 |
Succeeded by: Frederick Hervey-Bathurst |
| Political Offices | ||
| Preceded by: Robert Gordon James Mackenzie |
Joint Secretary of the Board of Control 1834–1835 |
Succeeded by: Robert Gordon Robert Vernon Smith |
| Preceded by: John Parker |
First Secretary of the Admiralty 1841–1845 |
Succeeded by: Henry Lowry-Corry |
| Preceded by: Sir Thomas Fremantle |
Secretary at War 1845–1846 |
Succeeded by: Fox Maule |
| Preceded by: William Beresford |
Secretary at War 1852–1854 |
Succeeded by: The Duke of Newcastle |
| Preceded by: Sir George Grey, Bt |
Secretary of State for the Colonies 1855 |
Succeeded by: The Lord John Russell |
| Preceded by: Jonathan Peel |
Secretary of State for War 1859–1861 |
Succeeded by: Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt |
| Honorary Titles | ||
| Preceded by: New Creation |
Baron Herbert of Lea 1861 |
Succeeded by: George Herbert |
