Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert (1880- September 26], 1923) was a remarkable and somewhat eccentric figure in British diplomatic and political circles. 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Background

The second son of the 4th Earl of Carnavon, Aubrey Herbert was educated at Oxford University where he was famous for daring exploits and numbered among his friends Adrian Carton De Wiart, Raymond Asquith, John Buchan and Hilaire Belloc. The Middle Eastern traveller and advisor, Sir Mark Sykes, was another friend. He was a half brother to the famous Egyptologist, George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon who discovered King Tutankhamen's tomb. Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart (1880-1963) (VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO) was a British officer of Belgian and Irish descent. ... Raymond Asquith (November 6, 1878 - September 15, 1916) was an English barrister and son of British Prime Minister H.H. Asquith. ... John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (August 26, 1875 - February 11, 1940), was a Scottish novelist and politician who served as Governor General of Canada. ... Photograph of Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (July 27, 1870 - July 16, 1953) was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. ... Sir Mark Sykes, 6th baronet, (1879-1919) was an English traveller and diplomatic advisor, particularly about matters respecting the Middle East at the time of World War One. ... Egyptologist is the designation given to an archaeologist or historian who specialises in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ... George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (June 26, 1866 – April 5, 1923), usually referred to simply as Lord Carnarvon, was an English aristocrat best known as the financier of the excavation of the Egyptian New Kingdom Pharaoh Tutankhamuns tomb in Egypts Valley of the Kings. ...

Travels

Herbert was in his own right a considerable Orientalist, a linguist who spoke seven languages, a renowned traveller, especially in the Middle East. His trips include voyages through Japan, Yemen, Anatolia and Albania. During the period 1903-05 he was an honorary attache, first in Tokyo, then in Constantinople. Anatolia ( Greek: ανατολή anatolē or anatolí, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of... The modern skyline of Tokyo is highly decentralized. ... Map of Constantinople. ...

Albania

He became a passionate advocate of Albanian independence, having visited the country in 1907, 1911 and 1913. When the Albanian delegates to the 1912 London Balkan Peace Conference arrived, they secured the assistance of Herbert as an advisor. He was very active in their cause. He was twice offered the throne of Albania.

The National Library of Albania in Tirana was once named after Herbert as was a village in the country. average temperature and precipitations in Tirana Tirana (Albanian: Tiranë or Tirana) is the capital and largest city of Albania. ...

Parliament

He was a very independent Conservative Member of Parliament for the Yeovil Division of Somerset from 1911 to his death. Always an advocate of the rights of smaller nations, Herbert opposed the British Government's Irish policy. Herbert was, however, always seen as something of a lightweight in the House of Commons. Map sources for Yeovil at grid reference ST5516 Yeovil is a town in south Somerset, England, on the A30 and A37. ... Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. ... In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ...

Warrior

Despite very poor eyesight, Herbert was able to obtain a commission at the outbreak of World War One in 1914 in the Irish Guards, in which he served in a supernumerary position. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Official name Irish Guards Colonel-in-Chief HM Queen Elizabeth II Colonel-of-the-Regiment James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn Nicknames Bobs Own The Micks Motto Quis Separabit (Who Shall Separate Us) Anniversaries Saint Patricks Day (17 March) Marches quick: St Patricks Day slow: Let Erin Remember...

France

During the First World War he was wounded in France (Irish Guards), taken prisoner, and escaped. He was later involved with British Intelligence. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Gallipoli

Herbert was an intelligence officer attached to the Australia-New Zealand Division, the Anzacs, during the Gallipoli Campaign, where his Turkish speaking ability was to prove useful. He was famous for having arranged a truce with Turkish authorities to bury the dead. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (popularly abbreviated as ANZAC) was originally an army corps of Australian and New Zealand troops who fought in World War I at Gallipoli, in the Middle East and on the Western Front. ... Battle of Gallipoli Conflict First World War Date 19 February 1915 - 9 January 1916 Place Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey Result Ottoman victory The Battle of Gallipoli took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in 1915 during the First World War. ...

Mesopotamia

After home leave to recover from illness, Herbert was sent to the Middle East, working with, among others, T.E. Lawrence, Sir Percy Cox and Gertrude Bell. He and Lawrence made an unsuccessful attempt to bribe a Turkish officer to allow the escape of British troops surrounded at Kut al Amara. Thomas Edward Lawrence (August 16, 1888 – May 19, 1935), also known as Lawrence of Arabia, and (apparently, among his Arab allies) Aurens or El Aurens, became famous for his role as a British liaison officer during the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918. ... Sir Percy Zachariah Cox (1864 - 1937) was a British administrator and diplomat in Iraq. ... Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (July 14, 1868 - July 12, 1926) was a British woman who had a major hand in creating the country Iraq. ...

Herbert ended the war as head of the British mission to the Italian army in Albania with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In the U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a commissioned officer superior to a major and inferior to a colonel. ...

Family Life

Aubrey Herbert married Mary, daughter of the 4th Viscount de Vesci, a member of the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They had four children, one of whom, Laura, married the celebrated novelist, Evelyn Waugh. They maintained a country residence at Pixton on Dartmoor in Devon and a villa on the Gulf of Genoa at Portofino. His son, Auberon Herbert, inherited both properties. Protestant Ascendancy refers to the political, economic and social domination of Ireland by the class of Protestant landowners, Church of Ireland clergy and professionals during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. ... Evelyn Waugh, as photographed in 1940 by Carl Van Vechten Evelyn Arthur St. ... Portofino is a small Italian city located in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. ... Auberon Herbert (1838-1906) was a writer, theorist, philosopher, and member of the British parliament. ...

Herbert was a slim man of more than average height. Contemporaries described him as having perfect manners.

Model for Literature

It is widely believed that Herbert is the inspiration for the character, Sandy Arbuthnot, a hero in several of John Buchan novels including Greenmantle. Greenmantle is the second of the Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1916. ...

Bibliography

• "The man who was Greenmantle: A biography of Aubrey Herbert" by Margaret Fitzherbert (John Murray, London, 1983)
• "The Decline and Fall Of the British Aristocracy" by David Cannandine, Picador, London, 1992
• "The Asquiths" by Colin Clifford, John Murray, London, 2003
• "Hillaire Belloc" by A.N. Wilson, Penguin, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1986
• "Desert Queen" by Janet Wallach, Anchor Books, New York, 1999
• "John Buchan, A Biography" by Janet Adam Smith, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985
• "Evelyn Waugh, Vol. 1, The Early Years 1903-1939" by Martin Stannard, Flamingo, Hammersmith, London, 1993
• "Evelyn Waugh, A Biography" by Christopher Sykes, Penguin, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1977
• "John Buchan, The Presbyterian Cavalier" by Andrew Lownie, McArthur and Company, Toronto, 2004