George Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis

Herbert was born at Number 26, Bruton Street, Mayfair, London, and baptised at St George's, Hanover Square.[1] He was the son of The Hon. Sir Percy Egerton Herbert and Lady Mary Caroline Louisa Thomas Petty-FitzMaurice, daughter of the Earl of Kerry (the eldest son of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne).[2] He succeeded his uncle the 3rd Earl in the peerage in 1891.

He was educated at Eton College and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1885 and MA in 1905.[3]

After gaining of his first degree, he was employed as a civil servant in the administrative branch of the General Post Office (the GPO) in London, but resigned after succeeding to his peerage.[4]

He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire in 1896,[5] a post he held until 1951.[6] He was also a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Montgomeryshire and JP for the counties of Montgomeryshire and Shropshire, and Alderman of Shropshire County Council. He was Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.[7]

In 1897 he served as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in Shrewsbury.[8] In 1898 he was made Honorary Colonel of the 4th (Militia) Battalion of the South Wales Borderers.[9]

In 1890, six months before inheriting the earldom, Herbert was married to The Hon. Violet Ida Evelyn Lane-Fox (1865–1929), the second daughter of The 15th Baron Darcy de Knayth.[10] Violet's older sister, Hon. Marcia Lane-Fox was married Charles Pelham, 4th Earl of Yarborough.[11] Together, George and Violet were the parents of two sons and one daughter:[12]

• Percy Robert, Viscount Clive (1892–1916), who died of wounds received in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme in World War I.[12]
• Lady Hermione Gwladys (1900–1995), who married Roberto Lucchesi-Palli, 11th Duke della Grazia and 13th Prince di Campofranco.[12]
• Mervyn Herbert, Viscount Clive (1904–1943), who was killed while on active service in World War II in 1943.[12]

In 1903, Violet succeeded her father in the barony of Darcy de Knayth. Lady Powis died in April 1929, aged 63, and was succeeded in the barony by their younger, and only surviving, son Mervyn (his daughter and only child Davina Ingrams, 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth inherited the barony).[13] Lord Powis died in November 1952, aged 90, and was buried in the churchyard at Christ Church, Welshpool. He bequeathed his family seat, Powis Castle near Welshpool, to The National Trust. He was succeeded in the earldom by his cousin, Edward Robert Henry Herbert.[12]