Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke

Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and 5th Earl of Montgomery KG PC PRS (c. 1656 – 22 January 1733), styled The Honourable Thomas Herbert until 1683, was an English and later British statesman during the reigns of William III and Anne.

Background
Herbert was the third son of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke and his wife Catharine Villiers, daughter of Sir William Villiers, 1st Baronet. Both of his brothers having died without a male heir, he succeeded to the earldoms in 1683.

Public life
From 1690 to 1692 Pembroke was First Lord of the Admiralty. He then served as Lord Privy Seal until 1699, being in 1697 the first plenipotentiary of Great Britain at the congress of Ryswick. On two occasions he was Lord High Admiral for a short period; he was also Lord President of the Council and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, while he acted as one of the Lords Justices seven times; and he was President of the Royal Society in 1689–1690. He is the dedicatee of John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Thomas Greenhill's The Art of Embalming".

Family
In 1684, Pembroke married Margaret Sawyer, only daughter of Sir Robert Sawyer of Highclere Castle and Margaret Suckeley, by whom he had seven sons and five daughters:


 * Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke (c. 1689–1750)
 * Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert (d. 1769), who inherited Highclere Castle
 * Hon. Charles Herbert
 * Hon. Thomas Herbert (c.1695–1739)
 * Maj-Gen. Hon. William Herbert (c.1696–31 March 1757), married Catherine Elizabeth Tewes (- 28 August 1770) and had Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon, who inherited Highclere Castle from his uncle
 * Hon. John Herbert
 * Hon. Nicholas Herbert (c.1706–1775)
 * Lady Catherine Herbert (d. September 1716), married Sir Nicholas Morice, 2nd Baronet
 * Lady Margaret Herbert (d. 15 December 1752)
 * Lady Elizabeth Herbert
 * Lady Anne Herbert
 * Lady Rebecca Herbert, married William Nevill, 16th Baron Bergavenny

His second wife was Barbara Slingsby (d. 1 August 1721), daughter of Sir Thomas Slingsby, 2nd Baronet, by whom he had one daughter:


 * Lady Barbara Herbert (d. 27 December 1752), married Edward Dudley North on 3 October 1730

By his third wife, Mary Howe (d. 1749), sister of Scrope Howe, 1st Viscount Howe, he had no children. She subsequently married John Mordaunt.