Background
Herbert was the son of Charles Herbert of Aston, Montgomeryshire.
Herbert was the son of Charles Herbert of Aston, Montgomeryshire.
In April 1640 Herbert was elected Member of Parliament for Reading and for Old Salisbury and chose to sit for Old Salisbury in the Short Parliament.
He was Attorney-General under Charles I.
He was admitted to the Inner Temple in November 1609 and was called to the bar in 1618. He was elected Member of Parliament for Downton, Wiltshire in 1624 for the Happy Parliament and was re-elected in 1626 and 1629. He was re-elected Member of Parliament for Old Salisbury in November 1640 for the Long Parliament.
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.
Short Parliament; Happy Parliament. 2nd Parliament of King Charles I]
In 1621 he was elected Member of Parliament for Montgomery. 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.