This author has found the researches into Lady Victoria's life as something of a challenge, but rewarding in taking him (as is not unusual in genealogical studies) down paths not normally travelled, and to unexpected locations, such as the depths of Exmoor, and the Museum of the Order of St John and St John Ambulance in London. It had initially been unable to find any biography of Lady Victoria Herbert, but eventually the finding a couple of short obituaries in The Times newspaper. Another enigma was the place of burial, which was not at Purse Caundle, but was solved when a copy of her will was obtained. Her ancestral home of the Carnarvon Family at Highclere Castle in Hampshire had so little about her that the following comprehensive details were subsequently gratefully received by the archivist at Highclere.
According to her birth certificate Lady Victoria Alexandrina Mary Cecil Herbert was born at 16 Bruton Street, Berkeley Square, London, on 30th December 1874. She was the third daughter of Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert,. the 4th Earl of Carnarvon - who registered the birth on 8th February 1875. Her mother was Lady Evelyn Georgina Katherine Herbert (nee Stanhope), daughter of the 6th Earl of Chesterfield. Lady Victoria was to be baptised in March 1875, at St. George's church, Hanover Square, London, with Queen Victoria being a godmother, and giving her a doll. Lady Victoria's mother died on 25th January 1875, leaving a son (the future 5th Earl) and three daughters, of whom Lady Victoria was naturally the youngest child.
Lord Carnarvon was married secondly on 26th December 1878 to Elisabeth Catharine, eldest daughter of Henry Howard of Greystoke Castle, Cumberland, by whom he had further children. At some stage he was a Secretary of State.
The 4th Earl died in 1890, when his second wife and her step-children seemingly moved from Highclere to Teversal in Somerset. They were said to have been "very rich, had a large house in Mayfair, London, and another in the country where they rode and shot and visited the poor." (Sketches in Pen and Ink by Vanessa Bell)
The 1891 Census shows 16-year old Victoria Herbert at Pixton Park, Dulverton, Somerset. She was living with her widowed step-mother, elder sister Margaret, half-brothers Aubrey and Mervyn, a tutor, two foreign governesses, and some sixteen assorted servants.
At Christmas 1893, sisters Victoria and Margaret handed out a present from under the Christmas tree to each child at Kingsclere Union Workhouse.
Around New Year's Day, 1898, she was a bridesmaid at the wedding at St. Peter's, Eaton Square, London, of the prince Victor Duleep Singh and Lady Anne Coventry.
The 1901 Census shows 26-year old Lady Victoria in residence at 36 Charles Street, West London, with an aunt and twelve assorted servants.
In a codicil to his 1902 will, Augustus John Cuthbert Hare of 'Holmhurst', St. Leonards-on-Sea, bequeathed 'To Lady Victoria Herbert. The pictures of a girl looking out of a cottage door and of a lady & her dog by Lady Waterford. A Tiny Picture of St. Francis on Vellum in my Bedroom.' Probate was granted in April 1903.
In September 1904, Lady Victoria was bridesmaid in chief at her elder sister Margaret's wedding, having arranged the bridesmaids to be dressed and coiffeured in 18th century fashion.
Both the 1911 and 1912 London Telephone Books show Lady Victoria seemingly living at 5 Stratford Place, West London - telephone number Mayfair 1332.
During the Great War of 1914-1918, from her 20 Talbot Square, London W.2. address, she ran her 'Lady Victoria Herbert's Scheme for British Ex-Prisoners of War'. The British Journal of Nursing of Saturday, August 28, 1915, carried on its front page:
'To these prisoners of war a knowledge that they are remembered, and appreciated, must have an influence beyond the actual physical relief afforded, and the method indicated by Lady Victoria Herbert brings the possibility of showing practical sympathy within reach of most people.
Writing to the press from 5, Stratford Place, W., Lady Victoria says:-
"For some months past I have been sending parcels of food, tobacco, and other comforts to military prisoners in Germany, and have been successful in getting many indiividuals 'adopted' by benevolent persons at home. Under this system each person adopts one or more prisoners, and undertakes to look after them. There are at present some 262 prisons and hospitals where our men are interned, and most of them can expect but little help from their own homes, even though their friends and relations spare all they can.
"To those who are willing to adopt prisoners I will gladly send the names of men with addresses and instructions how to forward parcels. A parcel of goods sent once a fortnight will probably suffice for the needs of one prisoner. 'Food and a little plug of tobacco' are the things most frequently asked for. The parcel should be carefully and strongly packed, preferably in stout cardboard and strong paper. There is no postage to be paid."'
She was to be recognised for this charitable work. On 20th December 1918, Lady Victoria was appointed to the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England as a Lady of Grace, with Her Grace, Adeline, Duchess of Bedford acting as her First Lady Sponsor. This was an ancient international Order, incorporated in England by Queen Victoria under Royal Charter in 1888. This appointment was subsequently announced in The London Gazette of 14th January 1919, page 714. Thus the relevant entry in Burke's Peerage has been incorrect. Lady Victoria's address at this time was still 5 Stratford Place, London W.1.
Then in the Second Supplement to The London Gazette, 7th January 1919, number 31114, page 450, is the appointment of Lady Victoria to be a Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services in connection with the war, as 'Organiser, Lady Victoria Herbert's Prisoners of War Fund.' Thereafter, Lady Victoria CBE was to continually write many letters to The Times newspaper, asking for help for surviving prisoner-of-war soldiers of the First World War.
From the Herbert papers deposited in the Somerset Record Office, it is noticed that in correspondence between Lady Victoria and her brother Aubrey she signed herself "Vera", and for some unknown reason he called her "Rabbit" or "Rab". Aubrey had become M.P. for South Somerset in 1911, and for Yeovil in 1918. The following year, in an undated letter from the then family home at Pixton Park, Dulverton, Somerset, (given to Aubrey by his mother on his marriage in 1910) she asked him for financial assistance in providing a pension for a badly crippled young man in an Incurable Hospital. Aubrey was to die of blood poisoning in London, in 1923, aged 43.
Lady Theodora Guest in 1920 sold the Purse Caundle manor house and five acres to Lady Victoria. As owner of the manor house it seems she may have become responsible for the upkeep and repair of the church's chantry chapel. When she attended the church services she apparently sat in the chapel. As she entered the church the congregation present used to stand up until she was seated.
The Times of 23rd October 1920 carried an appeal from Lady Victoria for a secondhand motor-cycle (gift or loan) for a partially disabled ex-corporal who had excellent references to travel to work. Replies had to be sent to Purse Caundle manor.
The 1921 London Telephone Book shows Lady Victoria with an address at 66 Curzon Street, W.1., telephone number GERrard 3871. Her widowed step-mother was to die on 1st February 1929. The Times on 11th August 1921 carried a request from the Lady Victoria Herbert's Fund who were anxious to hear of a Situation as a Messenger, Porter, or Joiner's Improver for an ex-Soldier with good references. 'Reply- Storey, 51 Devon-buildings, Tooley Street, S.E.1.' There was a subsequent appeal for a Suit of Clothes for an ex-Soldier, 5ft 9ins, with reply to Purse Caundle manor.
At a Parochial Church Council (P.C.C.) meeting on 20th January 1928, it was minuted that the church's chapel was not covered by the church's insurance, and Lady Victoria to be so notified buy the rector.
At a similar meeting on 21st June 1928, Lady Victoria had wished to have a door made leading into the said 'Chantry Chapel', with a faculty to be applied for. But the meeting of 21st November was notified that the Salisbury diocesan authorities had refused permission.
At the 19th July 1929 P.C.C. meeting Lady Victoria had offered to pay for mowing of the churchyard, which was accepted. She also wanted to plant some yew trees, but these were considered dangerous to cattle, but cypress trees were suitable. She had ordered a half-dozen of these by the meeting of 13th December. At the 22nd July 1930 meeting she was to be thanked for her improvements to the churchyard.
The 4th December 1931 P.C.C. meeting agreed that Lady Victoria be approached if the dampness in the church wall and roof comes from the chapel. At the 28th March 1932 meeting Lady Victoria would be pleased to pay half cost of leakage repair in the church and chapel roof.
The Times of 29th June and 6th July 1932, among its lists of gardens open to the public in aid of the Queen's Institute of District Nursing, was Purse Caundle manor house garden and part of the house, on those days between 2-7 p.m.. Then in The Times of 21st December, there was a Christmas Appeal on behalf of Lady Victoria Herbert's Scheme for British ex-Prisoners of War. As in past years it was to make provision of a Christmas dinner for ex-prisoners, many of whom were in want of common necessities. The committee was therefore endeavouring to raise a little fund to buy the poorest a Christmas dinner. It was the custon to dispatch a small joint of meat and a plum pudding to each poor man and his family on the committee's books. Cheques and postal orders were to be sent to her at 20 Talbot Square, London W.2.; or to Lloyds Bank, 399 Oxford Street, London.
At the 9th April 1934 Annual P.C.C. meeting, Lady Victoria was elected a Ruri-Deacanal Representative, although not apparently a member of the P.C.C.
The Times of 9th June 1934 again listed gardens open to the public on behalf of the Queen's Institute of District Nursing, which included Purse Caundle manor house for Wednesday, 13th June, between 3-7 p.m., at 1s. 6d. Then the Court Circular column in The Times of 19th December reported that the Queen had sent a gift of Christmas fare to Lady Victoria Herbert's Fund for Ex-Prisoners of War at 20 Talbot Square, W.2.
The Times of 17th and 21st May 1935 carried appeals for Gifts of Money for the Fund. On 6th June there was an advertisement that Lady Herbert wished to let her 20 Talbot Square, W.2. premises, for a very moderate rent; with 9 bedrooms, 3 sitting rooms, 2 bath rooms, with replies to Purse Caundle. On the 6th July 1935 The Times advertised the manor house being open on Friday, 12th, between 3-7 p.m., at 1s. 6d, in aid of her ex-Prisoner-of-War Fund.
At the 5th August P.C.C. meeting Lady Victoria wished to present a pair of 16th century brass German alms dishes to Purse Caundle church, which was acepted and a faculty to be applied for - which was subsequently issued. At the same time she gifted a Bible and Prayer Book now kept in the chantry chapel, as well as £5 towards the Church's Heating Installation Fund.
Lady Victoria was to be something of a benefactor to the church in other ways: donating for instance the 'Bishop's chair' alongside the main altar. She also took an active interest in the past history of Purse Caundle, particularly the manor house in which she undertook several alterations. There she uncovered the medieval door leading into the Great Chamber, and two other medieval doors in the screen passage - all having previously at some time been plastered over.
In the 1940 London Telephone Book Lady Victoria CBE is shown as having the residence at 20 Talbot Square, W.2., telephone number PADdington 4652. On 8th October 1940, 19th May 1941, 25th May 1942, 25th January 1944, 3rd and 16th May 1945, The Times carried further appeals from Lady Herbert for either money, suits of clothes, coats or greatcoats for her Fund.
At some time during the war two young McColl evacuees were billeted at the manor house - for further details on this see CHAPTER 9.
The Times of 14th and 28th December 1946, and 24th August and 11th November 1948 carried appeals from Lady Herbert for gifts of money, cheques and postal orders for her Fund.
In addition to her live-in servants, she had a secretary, Miss Beatrice Smith, who taught for some time at the Sunday School, and being elected onto the P.C.C. at the 1st May 1950 Annual Meeting.
Although Lady Victoria was never holder of the title Lord of the Manor, she seems to have acted as such in the matter of noblesse oblige. She was (and still is) generally accepted as having been very good to the village. She gave prayer books to children, with their names embossed in gilt on the front covers, and hymn books similarly embossed with gilt initials. It is believed she used to pay for village childrens' coach trips to Weymouth. At the time of the 1953 Coronation, the village children were given a Coronation medal, cup, and spoon (see illustration, courtesy of recipient Mrs Hunt).
When there was a birth in the parish, in her pony and trap she would deliver a jar of calf''s-foot jelly to help the mother's recovery. She allowed children to walk around the manor house garden. She is also believed to have planted the flowering cherry trees outside Little Purbeck bungalow opposite the church.
Lady Victoria only stayed in the village during summer months. During the winter she would be resident in London, with the manor house let to a hunting family, during which period the local Hunt would sometimes meet there.She was also to be a benefactor to the ancestral Highclere estate, with donations of memorials and chapel windows.
Lady Victoria was never to marry, but through family bequests from the time of her youth she appears to have been personally financially well secure.
On Friday, 15th November 1957 she died at Purse Caundle manor house, aged 82. Present at the death, and informant, was her sister-in-law Mary Elizabeth Herbert of Tetton House, Taunton, Somerset. There was a short obituary in The Times of 16th November:
'Lady Victoria Herbert , C.B.E., died yesterday at her home at Purse Caundle, Dorset, at the age of 82. The third daughter of the fourth Earl of Carnarvon, Victoria Alexandrina Mary Cecil was born on December 31 [sic], 1874. She was a goddaughter of Queen Victoria, who gave a doll which visitors to Purse Caundle could see carefully preserved.
'She was the founder of a remarkable organization, Lady Victoria Herbert's Scheme for British Ex-Prisoners of War. This was set up in 1914 and by 1945 £76,463 had been raised. From the monies subscribed old soldiers were helped in several ways: with their rents, with medical treatment, fuel, clothing, blankets, and a Christmas dinner. At one time a piece of beef and a plum pudding were the regular creature comforts dispensed by her, but rationing made the direct dispatch of food impracticable and money was sent in lieu. For many years at about the present season Lady Victoria Herbert's appeals appeared in The Times. She was made a C.B.E. in 1919.'
A more fuller obituary written by 'L.E.J.' appeared in The Times of 20th November 1957:
'Vera Herbert was sui generis [unique]. She was never quite of our world; her mind worked on a plane of its own, a plane of poetry, compassion, and humorous irrelevancies. Her delicately articulated conversation flowed, but never in a channel; it broke into a hundred little inconsequent rills, which none the less irrigated and refreshed the dusty and the commonplace. Fifty years ago, as half-sister to the romantic Aubrey Herbert and his brother Mervyn, she held court in her upstairs sitting-room at Pixton Park, and with a curiously humble but insistent appeal compelled the shyest of her brothers' man friends to read poetry aloud.
'Her appearance and apparel alike were distinguished and individual; she had the fine arched eyebrows, the femininely aquiline features of her family, but never seemed quite contemporary: she had the airs of an ancestress. Indeed, her interest in, and knowledge of, the by-paths of history, and especially of the women who walked them, was like those of a near rlation (the name of her later home - Purse Caundle - was exactly suited to her). If the past was her natural habitat, she could always be recalled to the present by pity, and her prolonged labours for some of the victims of the first Great War were surprisingly successful in one so little intended for business.
'Her friendships wee enduring. She believed implicitly against all the evidence, in the goodness of small children. She loved to offer good food to her friends and, as is none too common nowadays, "kept her friendships in repair." Vera was an original, an enchanting rarity, and her niche, come who may, will remain empty.'
The Times of 18th November announced that the funeral at Hawkridge church would be at 3 p.m. The edition of 19th November gave a report of the funeral, officiated by the Rev. P. Hopkinson. Amongst those present were: The Earl of Carnarvon, Mr Henry Duckworth (representing the Lady Victoria Herbert's Fund for Ex-Prisoners of War), the Hon. Mrs Aubrey Herbert, the Hon. Mrs Mervyn Herbert, Captain and Mrs Auberon Duckworth, Mrs Henry Duckworth, Mr & Mrs John Duckworth, Mr Auberon Duckworth, Mr Mervyn Herbert, Mr\Alexander Dru, Mrs A. E. Grant, Mrs Evelyn Waugh, Mr Auberon Waugh, Mrs R. Tilea, Miss Beatrice Smith, The Earl and Countess of Iddesleigh, the Hon. Edward Northcote, and Sir Lawrence Jones. Lady Marrgaret Dusckworth (sister) was unable to attend.
Hawkridge is a very small village, four miles north-west of Dulverton, just inside the southern edge of Exmoor National Park, with a population similar to, or even less than that of Purse Caundle. The Earls of Carnarvon have been one of the village's chief landowners.
Not immediately identifiable, in the south-west section of the churchyard of St. Giles, overlooking fine country views, there stands just a simple rectangular headstone, with the following inscription:
+
VICTORIA MARY
ALEXANDRINA
CECIL HERBERT
of Purse Caundle Manor, Dorset
1875-1957
Daughter of the
Fourth Earl of C|arnarvon
"Oh for the wings
of a dove . . ." ps lv
There is no mound or other ornamentation. It will be noticed that there is no "Lady" prefix; her second and third christian names have been reversed; the year of her birth is incorrect; and no mention of her C.B.E. Verse 6 of Psalm 55 actually reads:
'And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.'
The hearse and any vehicular cortege driving the 60 miles or so from Purse Caundle would have had difficulty negotiating the bends and turns of the narrow lanes of this part of Somerset.
Whilst visiting Hawridge in 2007 to search for the grave, this author luckily happened upon the village's oldest inhabitant, who said he had lived there for 81 years. He remembered as a child when Lady Victoria, always dressed in long clothes, came from Pixton to bring sweets, etc. for the village schoolchildren. She was said to have been good to the villagge in other ways. Understandably he did not recall her burial fifty years previously. It so happened that he was accompanied by a grandson who was employed by the new owners of Pixton.
Lady Victoria had made her Will on 27th February 1957, where it will be noticed that her signature was somewhat shaky. Her first clause was: "I DESIRE that my body may be buried in the Cemetery at Hawkridge Churchyard." Three live-in staff, Ellen Hooper, Alice Cluett, and Beatrice Smith, were bequeathed the contents of their respective rooms in the manor house, as well as monetary awards. Her gardener, W. Foster, was also to receive some money. Some extended family members were also mentioned in various respects: her elder sister Lady Margaret Leonora Evelyn Selina Duckworth, nephew Henry George Duckworth, Auberon Duckworth, John Duckworth, and brothers Auberon Herbert and Mervyn Herbert. According to a notice in The Times of 7th March 1958, her estate was £25,959 gross, £19,389 net before duty paid, with duty paid of £2,335.
Lady Victoria was not to have any personal grant of arms, but had inherited the shield of her father (less the crest, supporters, and motto): 'Per pale: azure and gules, three lions rampant; a crescent for difference.'
In a house in Purse Caundle is this chest, which belonged to Lady Victoria Herbert.
This is a travelling trunk of Lady Victoria, with her V H initials clearly seen on the lid.
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