Edward Herbert (attorney-general)

For other people with the same name, see Edward Herbert (disambiguation).

Sir Edward Herbert (c. 1591–1658) was Welsh lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1641. He was Attorney-General under Charles I.

Herbert was the son of Charles Herbert of Aston, Montgomeryshire. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in November 1609 and was called to the bar in 1618. In 1621 he was elected Member of Parliament for Montgomery. He was elected MP for Downton, Wiltshire in 1624 for the Happy Parliament and was re-elected in 1626 and 1629.

In April 1640 Herbert was elected MP for Reading and for Old Sarum and chose to sit for Old Sarum in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Old Sarum in November 1640 for the Long Parliament. He had become Attorney-General and he was instructed by Charles I to take proceedings against some members of Parliament who had been concerned in the passing of the Grand Remonstrance. The only result, however, was Herbert's own impeachment by the House of Commons in 1641 and his imprisonment.

Herbert lived at Aston in Montgomeryshire. Later in life, he lived in exile with the royal family in Holland and in France, becoming Lord Keeper of the Great Seal to Charles II in April 1653, an office which he had refused in 1645. He resigned that office the next year. He died in Paris.

Herbert married Margaret Carey, widow of Thomas Carey of Sunninghill Park, Berkshire and daughter of Thomas Smith of Abingdon-on-Thames and Parson's Green, Middlesex. One of Herbert's sons was Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington, and another was Sir Edward Herbert (c. 1648-1698). He was the cousin of Edward Herbert, Baron Herbert of Cherbury.

References

Parliament of England
Preceded by
Sir John Danvers
Member of Parliament for Montgomery
1621-1622
Succeeded by
George Herbert
Preceded by
Sir Clipsby Crew
Sir William Dodington
Member of Parliament for Downton
1625-1629
With: Sir Clipsby Crew 1625
Sir William Tremhall 1626
Sir Benjamin Rudyerd 1628-1629
Succeeded by
Parliament suspended until 1640
Preceded by
Parliament suspended since 1629
Member of Parliament for Reading
1640
With: Sir John Berkeley
Succeeded by
Francis Knollys III
Adm. Francis Knollys
Preceded by
Parliament suspended since 1629
Member of Parliament for Old Sarum
1640-1641
With: Sir William Howard 1640
Hon. Robert Cecil 1640-1641
Succeeded by
Hon. Robert Cecil
Sir William Savile
Legal offices
Preceded by
Sir Edward Littleton
Solicitor General
16401641
Succeeded by
Oliver St John
Preceded by
Sir John Bankes
Attorney General
16411645
Succeeded by
Thomas Gardiner (Royal)
Oliver St John (Parliamentary)
Preceded by
Thomas Gardiner
Attorney General (to the Royal Court in exile)
16491653
Succeeded by
None
Preceded by
Vacant - last held by Sir Richard Lane
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
16531654
Succeeded by
Vacant - next held by Sir Edward Hyde
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