Aubrey Herbert

Colonel The Honourable Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert (3 April 1880 – 26 September 1923), of Pixton Park in Somerset and of Teversal, in Nottinghamshire, was a British soldier, diplomat, traveller, and intelligence officer associated with Albanian independence. He was twice offered the throne of Albania. From 1911 until his death he was a Conservative Member of Parliament. His eldest half-brother was George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923), who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. Origins Aubrey Herbert was born at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, the second son of Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, a wealthy landowner, British cabinet minister, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. His mother (his father's second wife and cousin) was Elizabeth Catherine Howard (1856–1929) ("Elsie"), a daughter of Henry Howard of Greystoke Castle, near Penrith, Cumberland, a son of Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard, younger brother of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk. Elizabeth Howard's brother was Esmé Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith. Aubrey Herbert was a younger half-brother of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, the noted Egyptologist who in 1922, together with Howard Carter, discovered Tutankhamun's tomb; he predeceased him by five months. From early childhood Aubrey developed eye problems which left him nearly blind, and resulted in a total loss of sight before the age of 40. Early life Herbert was educated at Eton College. He obtained a first class degree in modern history from Balliol College, Oxford. 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. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Rangers) Yeomanry Cavalry on 12 January 1900, and promoted to lieutenant on 11 June 1902. His poor eyesight, however, prevented him from taking part in the South African War. Herbert received as a gift from his father the estate of Pixton Park in Somerset, with of land, inherited by the Herbert family from Kitty Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon (née Acland), wife of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon.