Susan (de Vere) Herbert (1587 - 1629)

Born 26 May 1587 in Oxfordshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Philip Herbert KG — married 27 Dec 1604 in London, Middlesex, England

Descendants

Died 1 Feb 1629 at age 41 in Middlesex, England

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Biography

Susan was the youngest daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, and his first wife Anne Cecil, daughter of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, and his second wife Mildred. ^[1]

Her parents were often estranged, and her mother died 5 June 1688, only a year of her birth on 26 May 1686. ^[2] She left three orphaned daughters, whose father made no provision for them and whose guardian became William Cecil, "her most affectionate grandfather, whose care it is that all these maids lack neither a kindly upbringing nor a fitting way of life." ^[3]

Lord Burghley died in 1598, providing for his granddaughters in his Will, ^[4] by which time the guardian of the younger daughters had devolved on their uncle Robert Cecil. The eldest, Elizabeth, had married in 1595 and Bridget in 1599, leaving Susan de Vere alone waiting to grow up. In 1602, she appeared, perhaps for the first time, at an event at court, having received the loan of a gown from the royal wardrobe. ^[5] Court revels would cease at the beginning of the next year with the death of Queen Elizabeth, but the accession of the new king James I opened up new opportunities for young courtiers. Susan wrote her uncle for permission to attend the new queen, and she was named as a Lady-in-Waiting. ^[6]

Almost immediately, she and the young Philip Herbert, younger brother of William 3rd Earl of Pembroke, took each other's notice. On 16 October 1604, the Earl of Pembroke wrote his father-in-law that "after long love, and many changes, my brother on Friday last was privately contracted to my Lady Susan, without the knowledge of any of his or her friends." ^[7] It appears to have been a love-match, unusual in those days when marriages were a matter of dealing between families. But Philip Herbert was one of the king's favorites, and he was ready to overcome any objections.

The marriage took place on 27 December 1604, with the king himself putting the newlywed couple to bed. Witnesses wrote that the bride "in her tresses and trinkets brided and bridled it so handsomely, and indeed became herself so well, that the king said, if he were unmarried, he would not give her, but keep her himself." ^[8] Aside from this, James enriched the couple with ample gifts of land and money, as well as raising Philip Herbert to the peerage as Earl of Montogomery.

This union, begun so auspiciously, was a fruitful one for the next 24 years, whileprobably ten children were born - three daughters and seven sons, most of them at Enfield House, Middlesex, a royal manor of which Herbert had been appointed keeper in 1616, and which he purchased in 1641. ^[9]

Mary - d. 1616

Catherine - possible daughter - d. young

Anna Sophia - b. abt 1610; m. 1625 Robert Dormer 1st Earl of Carnarvon; d. 1643

James - b. 1616; d. 1617

Henry - b. & d. 1618

Charles - b. 1619; m. 1634 Mary Villiers; d. sp 1635

Philip - heir - b. 1620/1; m. (1) 1639 Penelope Naunton, (2) 1649 Catherine Villiers; d. 1669

William - b. 1622; d. by 1649

James - b. 1622/3; m. 1646 Jane Spiller; d. 13 April 1677

John - b. 1625; m. 1651 Penelope Bayning; d. sp 1659

Of these children, only two sons survived their father to leave heirs of their own: Philip, 5th Earl of Pembroke, and James, MP for Queenborough. Daughter Anna Sophia Dormer left one son, Charles Dormer, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon.

The Countess of Montgomery died by 1 February 1628/9, when she was interred in the tomb erected by her grandfather for her mother, Anne, and her grandmother, Mildred Cecil, in the chapel of St Nicholas at Westminster Abbey. A figure representing her as a small child stands with those of her two sisters to the right of the tomb. ^{[10] [11]}

Research Note:

The profiles previously attached as sons Walter Herbert and Richard Herbert have now been detached.

Sources

1. ↑ DeVere Society: Pedigree of the de Vere family, Earls of Oxford Pedigree
2. ↑ Nelson, Alan H. <Monstrous Adversary"</i> Liverpool University Press, 2003.
3. ↑ Westminster Abbey Commemorations: Mildred Cecil, Lady Burghley & Anne Countess of Oxford. Abbey
4. ↑ Oxford-Shakespeare.com Probate ROB 11/92/316 Probate
5. ↑ Nelson, p. 406.
6. ↑ Nelson, p. 422
7. ↑ Nelson, p. 428.
8. ↑ Collins, Arthur and Brydges, Edgerton. Peerage of England, vol. III, p. 122 ff. London: F.C. and J. Rivington, Otridge and Son, 1812. Collins
9. ↑ Lysons, Daniel. "Enfield." The Environs of London: Volume 2, County of Middlesex. London: T Cadell and W Davies, 1795. 278-334. British History Online. Web. 19 February 2023. BHO
10. ↑ Westminster Abbey website: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/susan-de-vere-countess-of-montgomery
11. ↑ Chester, Joseph Lemuel. The marriage, baptismal, and burial registers of the collegiate church or abbey of St. Peter, Westminster, p. 128. London : Harleian Society, 1876. Chester

See also

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Herbert,_Countess_of_Montgomery