The current preoccupation of the BBC with all things Tudor
prompts the following account of Cardiff in that period. Whereas in many
accounts of the modern city year Zero is 1814 and the ascendancy of the Second
Marquess of Bute to the lordship of Cardiff Castle that title, and control of
the related lands, may be traced back directly to the later Tudor period. That
landholding originated in Royal gift in the C16th and the direct succession of
title of the estates of the Lordship of Cardiff from 1547 – 1947 provided the
foundation for the exponential development through the C19th which, in turn,
secured for what had been a small mediaeval settlement the eventual status of
city, capital and seat of government in the C20th.
This earlier history is every bit as colourful as the period of its origin. The source of the Bute family interests may be seen to originate in the grant of lands by Edward VI to William Herbert in 1547, the title passing by inheritance and marriage to the Bute family in 1766. The grant of land and titles to William Herbert between 1547 and 1549 was in reward for his services to the Crown which included the suppression of a rising in favour of the old religion in the West Country. In the course of that campaign it was estimated that some 10,000 peasantry and yeomanry were slain (Thompson 1930 p110).
Herbert ( c. 1501 - 1570 ), was the eldest son of Sir Richard Herbert (‘ Ddu ’) of Ewyas , bastard of William Herbert (d. 1469 ), earl of Pembroke of the first creation. Described as a "mad fighting fellow," the young Herbert was noted for his intense ambition, fierce temper and hot-headed nature. He left his early employment as a gentleman servant to the earl of Worcester when he fled to France to avoid arrest for killing a city sheriff in Bristol. He joined the service of the French King Francis I, as a soldier earning royal favour for his martial skills and a recommendation to the service of Henry VIII who much valued him, and heaped favours and honours upon him.
Herbert's first wife, Anne Parr, was sister to Catherinr Parr, sixth wife to King Henry VIII from 1543. He rose with the Parrs after his sister-in-law's marriage and from 1545 and 1546 acquiring in course the lordships of Miskin, Glynrhondda, Llantrisant, Neath Ultra and Neath Citra, the manor and Borough of Neath and the town of Briton Ferry. He was created Baron Herbert of Cardiff and earl of Pembroke in 1551 and accumulated other lands and offices in South Wales , including the lordships of Usk , Trelleck , and Caerleon. As an executor of Henry VIII 's will, he became a governor to the young King Edward VI , one of his privy councillors and a Knight of the Garter.
After the death of Edward VI, Herbert initially supported (some would say initiated) the plot to crown lady Jane Grey of 1553 having married his eldest son and heir, Henry to her sister, Lady Catherine Grey. When it became clear that Mary Tudor would take the throne as Mary I Herbert cast his daughter-in-law out of the house and had the marriage annulled. Lady Jane and her father were subsequently executed for high treason in 1554 and, having distanced himself from the Grey family after their fall, Herbert secured the new queen's favour by crushing Thomas Wyatt's rebellion and commanding her army in France in the campaign of 1557.
It must be noted that this William, Earl of Pembroke had a brother, Sir George Herbert, who inherited the Craddock Estates in Swansea from his mother and, following the dissolution of the monasteries, acquired the Grey Friars property in Cardiff. When he purchased the friary lands he also purchased land in Llanishen, Llysfaen, and Roath. This may have been an opportunistic acquisition and not necessarily a royal gift. Sir George Herbert was, however, ‘granted’ Tewkesbury and Margam by the King and also land at Cogan, near Cardiff, where he built a house and the adjoining lands at Llandough. His son built a mansion at Cogan Pill and his grandsons were Sir William Herbert of the Friars, John who was secretary to both Elizabeth I and James I, and Nicholas who was MP for Cardiff 1584-5.
As Sir George Herbert had a son and grandson both called William and it is important to make a clear distinction between the two family lines. The Pembroke line holds Cardiff castle and the estates in Glamorgan which eventually pass to the Bute family by succession and marriage. That line has a significant role to play in the patronage of art and architecture in Britain, less so of that in Cardiff directly. To clearly differentiate reference will be made to Sir William, grandson of Sir George Herbert, as Herbert of the Friars. He inherited the Grey Friars monastery adjacent to the castle and used its materials to construct a mansion which he called ‘The Friars’ which that branch of the family occupied until circa 1730.
"By the late 16th Century, Cardiff’s finest house graced the land where once the Greyfriars stood. The grand stone Tudor mansion complete with bays and fine windows, became known variously over the years as the Friars, Whitefriars, or Herbert House. This was the home of Sir William Herbert (1548-1610). However, in contrast to the grace and beauty of his house, he appears to have been a rogue of the first order!"
Sir William Herbert of The Friars and his brother Nicholas were, by the colourful account of Herbert Thompson, of a belligerent and quarrelsome nature (Thompson 1930 pp111-113). In 1576 he had to appear before the Council in the Marches in connexion with a brawl between his servants and those of inveterate foes William Bassett I of Beaupré and William Carnein which a constable was ‘grievously hurt’. In the same year an appeal was made to him as a piracy commissioner to rescue a foreign victim of pirates under the protection of his powerful kinsman, Sir John Perrot, but he declined to intervene. Tudor Cardiff was rife with piracy and goods plundered from the shipping routes to and from Bristol were landed into South Wales, especially Penarth and Cardiff.
Herbert of the Friars was variously a Knight, a Justice of the Peace, and served as Sheriff of Glamorgan but far from upholding law and order, he exploited his position ruthlessly, and made significant personal gains through collaborating with pirates and shielding them from justice. One of the most notorious of them, John Callice was even a guest of Herbert’s in his mansion at the time of one investigation. The successive investigations by the Admiralty and the Privy Council were hampered by Herbert intimidation of the local populace and he and other prominent South Wales citizens, were simply fined and bound over for their dealings. In addition to those authorities concerned with suppressing piracy Herbert of the Friars also troubled those concerned with other aspects of law and order. Actions were brought against him in the Star Chamber alleging that he had contravened crown grants by disposing of property while he was Sherriff of Glamorgan. He was again called to the Star Chamber concerning a dispute between borough and county over the building of Cardiff bridge in 1577-87, and in 1596 when the bailiffs of the town sued on charges of rescuing his servants from Cardiff gaol, procuring by intimidation a partial coroner’s verdict on a townsman who was killed, and threatening to have the borough charter annulled. Herbert was back the following year for another Star Chamber action, accused of using ' 400 of the posse comitatus to overawe the town and to rescue a kinsman, leaving the bailiffs helpless, the town in an uproar, and peaceful citizens afraid to stir abroad. In the end, he was fined 1,000 marks, but he retained his seat on the council in the marches'.
Some will just remember the remains of The Friary which remained a Cardiff landmark until the late 1960s, when it was shamefully demolished and replaced by the Pearl Building, more latterly known as capital Tower. Others might conclude that this is perhaps a more fitting memorial to the lawless and corrupt Herbert than that in St John's Church, Cardiff.
This earlier history is every bit as colourful as the period of its origin. The source of the Bute family interests may be seen to originate in the grant of lands by Edward VI to William Herbert in 1547, the title passing by inheritance and marriage to the Bute family in 1766. The grant of land and titles to William Herbert between 1547 and 1549 was in reward for his services to the Crown which included the suppression of a rising in favour of the old religion in the West Country. In the course of that campaign it was estimated that some 10,000 peasantry and yeomanry were slain (Thompson 1930 p110).
Herbert ( c. 1501 - 1570 ), was the eldest son of Sir Richard Herbert (‘ Ddu ’) of Ewyas , bastard of William Herbert (d. 1469 ), earl of Pembroke of the first creation. Described as a "mad fighting fellow," the young Herbert was noted for his intense ambition, fierce temper and hot-headed nature. He left his early employment as a gentleman servant to the earl of Worcester when he fled to France to avoid arrest for killing a city sheriff in Bristol. He joined the service of the French King Francis I, as a soldier earning royal favour for his martial skills and a recommendation to the service of Henry VIII who much valued him, and heaped favours and honours upon him.
Herbert's first wife, Anne Parr, was sister to Catherinr Parr, sixth wife to King Henry VIII from 1543. He rose with the Parrs after his sister-in-law's marriage and from 1545 and 1546 acquiring in course the lordships of Miskin, Glynrhondda, Llantrisant, Neath Ultra and Neath Citra, the manor and Borough of Neath and the town of Briton Ferry. He was created Baron Herbert of Cardiff and earl of Pembroke in 1551 and accumulated other lands and offices in South Wales , including the lordships of Usk , Trelleck , and Caerleon. As an executor of Henry VIII 's will, he became a governor to the young King Edward VI , one of his privy councillors and a Knight of the Garter.
After the death of Edward VI, Herbert initially supported (some would say initiated) the plot to crown lady Jane Grey of 1553 having married his eldest son and heir, Henry to her sister, Lady Catherine Grey. When it became clear that Mary Tudor would take the throne as Mary I Herbert cast his daughter-in-law out of the house and had the marriage annulled. Lady Jane and her father were subsequently executed for high treason in 1554 and, having distanced himself from the Grey family after their fall, Herbert secured the new queen's favour by crushing Thomas Wyatt's rebellion and commanding her army in France in the campaign of 1557.
It must be noted that this William, Earl of Pembroke had a brother, Sir George Herbert, who inherited the Craddock Estates in Swansea from his mother and, following the dissolution of the monasteries, acquired the Grey Friars property in Cardiff. When he purchased the friary lands he also purchased land in Llanishen, Llysfaen, and Roath. This may have been an opportunistic acquisition and not necessarily a royal gift. Sir George Herbert was, however, ‘granted’ Tewkesbury and Margam by the King and also land at Cogan, near Cardiff, where he built a house and the adjoining lands at Llandough. His son built a mansion at Cogan Pill and his grandsons were Sir William Herbert of the Friars, John who was secretary to both Elizabeth I and James I, and Nicholas who was MP for Cardiff 1584-5.
As Sir George Herbert had a son and grandson both called William and it is important to make a clear distinction between the two family lines. The Pembroke line holds Cardiff castle and the estates in Glamorgan which eventually pass to the Bute family by succession and marriage. That line has a significant role to play in the patronage of art and architecture in Britain, less so of that in Cardiff directly. To clearly differentiate reference will be made to Sir William, grandson of Sir George Herbert, as Herbert of the Friars. He inherited the Grey Friars monastery adjacent to the castle and used its materials to construct a mansion which he called ‘The Friars’ which that branch of the family occupied until circa 1730.
"By the late 16th Century, Cardiff’s finest house graced the land where once the Greyfriars stood. The grand stone Tudor mansion complete with bays and fine windows, became known variously over the years as the Friars, Whitefriars, or Herbert House. This was the home of Sir William Herbert (1548-1610). However, in contrast to the grace and beauty of his house, he appears to have been a rogue of the first order!"
Sir William Herbert of The Friars and his brother Nicholas were, by the colourful account of Herbert Thompson, of a belligerent and quarrelsome nature (Thompson 1930 pp111-113). In 1576 he had to appear before the Council in the Marches in connexion with a brawl between his servants and those of inveterate foes William Bassett I of Beaupré and William Carnein which a constable was ‘grievously hurt’. In the same year an appeal was made to him as a piracy commissioner to rescue a foreign victim of pirates under the protection of his powerful kinsman, Sir John Perrot, but he declined to intervene. Tudor Cardiff was rife with piracy and goods plundered from the shipping routes to and from Bristol were landed into South Wales, especially Penarth and Cardiff.
Herbert of the Friars was variously a Knight, a Justice of the Peace, and served as Sheriff of Glamorgan but far from upholding law and order, he exploited his position ruthlessly, and made significant personal gains through collaborating with pirates and shielding them from justice. One of the most notorious of them, John Callice was even a guest of Herbert’s in his mansion at the time of one investigation. The successive investigations by the Admiralty and the Privy Council were hampered by Herbert intimidation of the local populace and he and other prominent South Wales citizens, were simply fined and bound over for their dealings. In addition to those authorities concerned with suppressing piracy Herbert of the Friars also troubled those concerned with other aspects of law and order. Actions were brought against him in the Star Chamber alleging that he had contravened crown grants by disposing of property while he was Sherriff of Glamorgan. He was again called to the Star Chamber concerning a dispute between borough and county over the building of Cardiff bridge in 1577-87, and in 1596 when the bailiffs of the town sued on charges of rescuing his servants from Cardiff gaol, procuring by intimidation a partial coroner’s verdict on a townsman who was killed, and threatening to have the borough charter annulled. Herbert was back the following year for another Star Chamber action, accused of using ' 400 of the posse comitatus to overawe the town and to rescue a kinsman, leaving the bailiffs helpless, the town in an uproar, and peaceful citizens afraid to stir abroad. In the end, he was fined 1,000 marks, but he retained his seat on the council in the marches'.
Some will just remember the remains of The Friary which remained a Cardiff landmark until the late 1960s, when it was shamefully demolished and replaced by the Pearl Building, more latterly known as capital Tower. Others might conclude that this is perhaps a more fitting memorial to the lawless and corrupt Herbert than that in St John's Church, Cardiff.
Further references;
- See more on Tudor Cardiff at the excellent : http://www.thepennypost.co.uk/2011/05/08/cardiff-history-the-forgotten-rogue-of-tudor-cardiff/#sthash.C9zMFsgU.dpuf
on William Herbert at
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