Sir Richard Herbert (died 1510) of Ewyas, Herefordshire, was a Welsh knight, gentleman, landowner, and courtier. He was an illegitimate son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1423–1469), and Maud ap Howell Graunt, a daughter of Adam ap Howell Graunt (Gwynn). Richard had a full brother named George.
Richard Herbert of Ewyas should not be confused with his uncle, Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook.
Contents
Herbert legacy
The titles and estates of the Earl of Pembroke descended to Herbert's younger, legitimate half-brother William, but he achieved notability through his own merit and through his descendants: "Sir Richard Herbert, of Ewyas, who, though illegitimate, is ancestor of the men who have really, in modern times, rendered the name of Herbert illustrious."
In 1465, Richard Herbert was granted Westminster, manors of Grove, Radnore, Mookas, Brutescourt, Throuckeston, Westhide, Egelton, Redehire, Howton and Wormeton Tirell, in Herefordshire.
He was successful as a Gentleman Usher to King Henry VII and was appointed Constable and Porter of Abergavenny Castle on 22 July 1509. While Herbert is most often named as "Sir Richard Herbert," there is uncertainty as to whether he was knighted. In "The Knights of England", there is a record of a Richard Herbert being knighted in 1513, but that was three years after this man's death. According to Sil, Richard was never knighted, but was an Esquire. Richard is entitled Esquire in 1465, when he was granted manors and lands. However, other sources call him "Sir Richard Herbert", and an article entitled "The Family of Herbert" in The Gentleman's Magazine states that he was knighted by King Henry VIII, in which case as he died in 1510 he would have been knighted in the last year of his life, and the first year of Henry VIII's reign, which began in 1509.