Edward Herbert (attorney-general)

For other people of 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

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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 1640–1641	Succeeded by Oliver St John
Preceded by Sir John Bankes	Attorney General 1641–1645	Succeeded by Thomas Gardiner (Royal) Oliver St John (Parliamentary)
Preceded by Thomas Gardiner	Attorney General (to the Royal Court in exile) 1649–1653	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Vacant - last held by Sir Richard Lane	Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 1653–1654	Succeeded by Vacant - next held by Sir Edward Hyde