The Herbert Brothers — William Herbert and Philip Herbert

Topic: The Herbert Brothers — William Herbert and Philip Herbert

Overview

William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, and Philip Herbert, 1st Earl of Montgomery (later 4th Earl of Pembroke), were the dedicatees of the Shakespeare First Folio (1623). They are also documented Virginia Company colleagues of Henry Neville, and their family's multigenerational connection to the Neville family is among the most significant structural facts in the case for Neville's authorship.

1. Verified Sourced Facts

A. The First Folio Dedication

• The Shakespeare First Folio (London: William Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623; STC 22273) opens with a dedication from John Heminges and Henry Condell addressed "To the Most Noble and Incomparable Paire of Brethren, William Earle of Pembroke, &c. Lord Chamberlaine to the Kings most Excellent Maiesty. And Philip Earle of Montgomery, &c."

• The dedication states:

"we have but collected them, and done an office to the dead, to procure his Orphanes, Guardians; without ambition either of selfe-profit, or fame: onely to keepe the memory of so worthy a Friend, & Fellow alive, as was our SHAKESPEARE."

• The dedication states the Herberts had been patrons of the living author:

"since your L. L. have beene pleas'd to think these trifles some-thing, heretofore, and have prosequuted both them, and their Authour liuing, with so much favour."

• The phrase "their Authour liuing" confirms that the Herberts extended patronage and favour to the works and their author during his lifetime. It establishes a relationship between the dedicatees and the living author; it does not by itself specify the nature or intimacy of that relationship beyond documented patronage.

B. Virginia Company — Documented Overlap with Neville (1609)

• The Virginia Company Charter of 23 May 1609 names both Herbert brothers and Henry Neville as investors/council members:
• William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke: Member / Major Investor, 1609–1624
• Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, 1st Earl of Montgomery: Member / Investor, 1609–1624
• Henry Neville: Member / Investor, 1610–1615

• Source: Kingsbury, Susan Myra, ed. The Records of the Virginia Company of London. 4 vols. Washington: Library of Congress, 1906–35, vol. 3, pp. 1–5.

• Topic packet: virginia_company.md.

C. Wardship of Neville's Grandson (1629)

• The History of Parliament entry for Sir Henry Neville III (1588–1629) states:

"following Neville's death, Pembroke purchased the wardship of Neville's son, and his secretary, Sir John Thoroughgood, subsequently married Neville's widow and acquired the wardship himself."

• "Pembroke" here is William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (the elder of the two First Folio dedicatees).

• Source: Thrush, Andrew. "NEVILLE, Sir Henry III (1588–1629), of Billingbear, Berks." The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604–1629, https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/.

• Topic packet: sir_henry_neville_iii_1588_1629.md.

D. The Sidney–Neville–Herbert Family Connection (Four Generations)

The connection between the Neville family and the Herbert brothers runs through the Sidney family across four documented generations:

Generation 1 — Sir Henry Sidney and Sir Henry Neville Sr

• Sir Henry Sidney (father of Philip, Mary, and Robert Sidney) and Sir Henry Neville Sr (father of the proposed author) were documented close friends.

• Sir Henry Sidney wrote:

"There can be no greater love than of long time hath been, and yet is, between Sir Harry Neville and me, and so will continue till our lives end."

• Source: Shephard, Robert, and Noel J. Kinnamon. "The Sidney Family Correspondence during Robert Sidney's Continental Tour, 1579–1581." Sidney Journal, vol. 25, nos. 1–2, 2007. Local PDF: sidney_family_correspondence.pdf.

Generation 2 — Philip and Robert Sidney with Henry Neville Jr

• Henry Neville Jr (the proposed author) traveled in Europe in 1579–81 with Robert Sidney (Sir Henry's son and Philip's brother) and Henry Savile.

• Sir Henry Sidney wrote in his 28 October 1580 letter that Robert had "fallen into consort and fellowship with Sir Harry Neville's son and heir, and one Master Savile."

• Philip Sidney (Robert's brother) sent greetings to "Master Neville, Master Savile, and honest Harry Whyte."

• Philip Sidney's 18 October 1580 letter to Robert Sidney names Henry Neville as a companion, described as "a good influence."

• Source: Shephard and Kinnamon (as above); Philip Sidney letter in Feuillerat, Albert, ed., The Prose Works of Sir Philip Sidney, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1912, vol. 3, p. 130.

Generation 3 — The Herbert Brothers as Neville's Patrons

• William Herbert and Philip Herbert were the sons of Mary Sidney (Philip and Robert's sister) and Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. They were therefore Philip Sidney's nephews.

• The family network that placed the elder Neville in Philip Sidney's orbit, and placed the younger Neville in Robert Sidney's traveling company, placed Neville in the natural orbit of the Herbert brothers a generation later.

• The First Folio dedication confirms they were the living author's patrons.

• William Herbert purchased the wardship of Neville's grandson after the son's death in 1629.

Generation 4 — Algernon Sidney and Henry Neville (grandson)

• No direct primary-source documentation has yet been isolated in this packet for the Algernon Sidney / Henry Neville (grandson) friendship. That fourth-generation extension remains a lead preserved through the Ken Feinstein tweet trail rather than a verified sourced fact.

2. Ken Feinstein Twitter and Blog Information

D. The Sidney–Neville–Herbert Family Connection (Four Generations)

• Algernon Sidney (1623–1683), grandson of Robert Sidney, is described in the research as a close associate and friend of Henry Neville (1620–1694), grandson of Henry Neville the proposed author and author of The Isle of Pines (1668). Note: the primary documentary basis for this friendship — correspondence, joint publications, or other archival records — has not yet been extracted into a formal primary-source packet. The lead rests on the Feinstein tweet trail; it should not be cited as a proved fact until primary documents are identified.

• Feinstein tweets state:

"Algernon Sidney was the grandson of Robert Sidney. He was friends with Henry Neville, author of Isle of Pines and grandson of Henry Neville (d. 1615). This multigenerational connection with the Herbert/Sidney family is extremely important."

(Feinstein, Ken. X post, 4 Jun. 2023. Tweet ID 1665404362146058241.)

"The connection among the Sidney/Herbert family and the Nevilles spans four generations."

(Feinstein, Ken. X post, 9 Oct. 2020. Tweet ID 1314632517584998400.)

E. Neville's Son at Penshurst

• Feinstein tweet:

"We have records of Neville's son traveling to Penshurst to visit Robert's son presumably."

(Feinstein, Ken. X post, 4 Sep. 2024. Tweet ID 1831347080721514921.)

• The specific document in which this visit is recorded has not yet been extracted into the project files; the lead is preserved at the level of the tweet.

3. Summary

The Herbert brothers' connection to Henry Neville is:

1. Documented in their own lifetime: Virginia Company co-investors from 1609
2. Confirmed by the First Folio: the dedication states they "prosequuted... their Authour liuing, with so much favour" — establishing they were patrons of the author during his lifetime (the phrase does not by itself prove a personal friendship beyond patronage)
3. Extended after Neville's death: William Herbert purchased wardship of Neville's grandson in 1629
4. Rooted in a multigenerational family relationship: generations 1, 2, and 3 are directly sourced in this packet; the generation-4 extension currently remains at the tweet-lead stage

The First Folio dedication to the Herbert brothers is not an act of arbitrary patronage. It is addressed to a family with documented connections to the Neville family across multiple generations. In this packet, generations 1, 2, and 3 are directly sourced; generation 4 remains a research lead rather than a hardened documentary layer.

4. Citations

• Heminges, John, and Henry Condell. Dedication to Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: William Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. STC 22273.
• Kingsbury, Susan Myra, ed. The Records of the Virginia Company of London. 4 vols. Washington: Library of Congress, 1906–35. Vol. 3, pp. 1–5 (council list and 1609 Charter).
• Thrush, Andrew. "NEVILLE, Sir Henry III (1588–1629)." The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604–1629, https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/.
• Shephard, Robert, and Noel J. Kinnamon. "The Sidney Family Correspondence during Robert Sidney's Continental Tour, 1579–1581." Sidney Journal, vol. 25, nos. 1–2, 2007.
• Sidney, Philip. Letter to Robert Sidney, 18 October 1580. In Feuillerat, Albert, ed., The Prose Works of Sir Philip Sidney, vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1912, p. 130.
• Feinstein, Ken. X post, 4 Sep. 2024. Tweet ID 1831347080721514921.
• Feinstein, Ken. X post, 4 Jun. 2023. Tweet ID 1665404362146058241.
• Feinstein, Ken. X post, 9 Oct. 2020. Tweet ID 1314632517584998400.
• Feinstein, Ken. X post, 26 Feb. 2021. Tweet ID 1365369628407472134.
• virginia_company.md
• sir_henry_neville_iii_1588_1629.md
• robert_sidney_henry_neville_and_henry_savile.md

5. Notes on Access

• The First Folio dedication is a standard published text; the quotations above follow the 1623 original spelling.
• The wardship purchaser is William Herbert (Pembroke), not Philip Herbert — the History of Parliament text is unambiguous.
• The Penshurst visit by Neville's son has not yet been extracted from a primary document into the project files; the lead rests on the Feinstein tweet.
• The Algernon Sidney / Henry Neville (grandson) friendship is confirmed across multiple tweets but the primary documentary basis (correspondence, joint publications, etc.) has not yet been extracted into a formal primary-source packet.