Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke

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Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke (c.1656–22 January 1733) was a British statesman who held many important government roles and supported science and philosophy. He was President of the Royal Society from 1689 to 1690.

He was the third son of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke, and grew up with a path to the family title. In 1683, after his brothers died without a male heir, he inherited the earldom and Wilton House in Wiltshire. He was educated at Tonbridge School in Kent. While still young, he met the philosopher John Locke in Montpellier, France, and Pembroke became a strong friend and patron of Locke.

Pembroke served as Member of Parliament for Wilton in 1679 and 1681, but he left the House of Commons when he became a peer in 1683. As Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, he commanded the Wiltshire Militia against the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. He played a key role at places like Salisbury, Bath, and Bridgwater during the rebellion and helped stop Monmouth’s forces at Sedgemoor.

In his later career, Pembroke held several top offices. He was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1690 to 1692, then Lord Privy Seal from 1692 to 1699. He briefly served as Lord High Admiral on two occasions. He was Lord President of the Council from 1699 to 1702 and again from 1702 to 1708, under different monarchs. He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and acted as one of the Lords Justices seven times. In 1697 he was Britain’s chief diplomat at the Congress of Ryswick. He was also the dedicatee of Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and of Thomas Greenhill’s The Art of Embalming.

Pembroke married three times: Margaret Sawyer in 1684, Barbara Slingsby in 1708 (she died in 1721), and Mary Howe. He had 13 children. He died on 22 January 1733, aged about 77, and his family seat remained Wilton House. He is remembered as a powerful statesman, a patron of philosophy and science, and a link to the era’s political and intellectual life.