Sir John Herbert: Second Secretary, Civil Lawyer, Linguist, and Neville's Boulogne Colleague
Sir John Herbert
Source-Control Summary
Herbert's office in the Boulogne commission was checked against the public Winwood page image. His biography was controlled through the Dictionary of Welsh Biography, and the secretarial memorandum through Prothero's public page-image edition. The memorandum is attributed probably, not absolutely, to Herbert in that edition.
Why Herbert matters
John Herbert was appointed to the Privy Council and made second secretary of state immediately before joining Neville's Boulogne commission. The timing means the mission was not simply another diplomatic assignment in his career: it helped define the responsibilities of a newly created high office.
Herbert brought four forms of expertise to Neville's team:
- civil and admiralty law;
- languages;
- trade and northern European diplomacy;
- central secretarial office.
Identity and genealogy
The Dictionary of Welsh Biography identifies Herbert as the second son of Matthew Herbert of Swansea and a descendant of the Herbert line of Ewyas. This genealogy should not be confused with the later Herberts of Cherbury or with the earls of Pembroke, although the lines belonged to the wider Herbert kindred.
He married Margaret Morgan and had one daughter.
Education and early service
Herbert entered the College of Advocates, worked in Admiralty jurisdiction, and became a Master of Requests. He took the D.C.L. at Oxford in 1587 and was chosen to dispute before Elizabeth during her 1592 visit.
His reputation for languages led to:
- interrogation of foreign prisoners;
- trade missions to Denmark, Poland, and Brandenburg;
- political missions in the Netherlands and France;
- work as secretary to Robert Cecil.
This background made him particularly well suited to a conference in which Latin commission forms, French and Spanish-Netherlands diplomacy, merchant claims, maritime injuries, and questions of precedence converged.
Appointment and Boulogne
Herbert was appointed second secretary in April 1600 and sworn to the Privy Council on 10 May. He then joined Neville, Beale, and Edmondes.
Elizabeth's formal commission calls him:
“Secundi Secretarii nostri”
The document also identifies him as a member of the Privy Council. His place between Neville and Beale in the commission reflects office, not authorship rank.
The four-man team should be understood functionally:
| Commissioner | Principal documented capacity |
|---|---|
| Henry Neville | resident ambassador and senior representative in France |
| John Herbert | privy councillor, second secretary, civil lawyer, linguist |
| Robert Beale | Privy Council clerk, precedent keeper, northern administrator |
| Thomas Edmondes | French secretary and recent agent in France and Brussels |
Herbert's memorandum on secretarial duties
A memorandum printed by G. W. Prothero and attributed probably to Herbert is headed “Titles of matters whereof I am charged to have regard as a Councillor and Secretary.” It says the secretary must:
“be acquainted with the particular actions and negotiations of ambassadors”
The list also includes treaties, Wales, the Council of the North, Ireland, military costs, the Council book, royal correspondence, and foreign princes.
This document is highly relevant to Neville because it defines diplomacy as a paper-and-information system. The secretary was expected not merely to write letters, but to understand previous negotiations, institutional jurisdictions, expenses, records, and the power of foreign states.
Boulogne as secretarial practice
The surviving Boulogne papers closely match Herbert's memorandum. The commissioners had to:
- inspect and compare commissions and seals;
- determine whether powers were sufficient;
- preserve equality and precedence;
- frame Latin and French replies;
- report conferences to Cecil;
- request new instructions when authority was inadequate;
- distinguish delay tactics from substantive objections.
Herbert's presence therefore helps explain the procedural density of the correspondence. The next step is to identify whether his hand appears in the drafts now catalogued in Stowe MS 167 and other state-paper collections.
Later career
After Boulogne, Herbert:
- participated in proceedings after the Essex revolt;
- was knighted;
- served on another Danish mission;
- continued under James I;
- worked on the Anglo-Scottish union and ecclesiastical commissions;
- represented Glamorgan and Monmouthshire in Parliament.
The Welsh biography notes that he struggled as the principal defender of government policy in the Commons after Cecil moved to the Lords. After Salisbury's death he did not obtain the principal secretaryship and withdrew from active affairs while retaining the title.
He died at Cardiff on 9 July 1617.
Research significance
Herbert changes the interpretation of Boulogne. Neville did not negotiate alone with three generic assistants. He worked with a newly appointed secretary of state whose own memorandum defined the office through complete knowledge of treaties, ambassadors, councils, records, and foreign affairs.
This supplies a strong comparative framework for Neville's letters:
- how closely did Neville's reports match Herbert's information categories?
- which sections were ambassadorial narrative and which were secretarial
- did the four commissioners maintain separate notebooks?
- were their papers copied into common formularies after the conference?
procedural drafting?
These questions can be pursued without assuming that Herbert authored Neville's dispatches or that Neville adopted Herbert's ideas.
Quoted Source Passages
- Commission: “Secundi Secretarii nostri.”
- Secretarial memorandum: “be acquainted with the particular actions and
negotiations of ambassadors.”
The first establishes office. The second defines one category of secretarial knowledge and is used as a comparator for Boulogne practice.
Notes on Access
The Winwood and Prothero editions are public page-image witnesses. The manuscript behind the secretarial memorandum and Herbert's own working papers have not yet been image-checked for this packet.
Citations
- Edmund Sawyer, ed., Memorials of Affairs of State, vol. 1,
- Arthur Herbert Dodd, “Herbert, Sir John (1550-1617),”
- G. W. Prothero, ed., *Selected Statutes and Other Constitutional Documents
- British Library,
Stowe MS 167,
Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
Illustrative of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I* (Oxford, 1898), Internet Archive.