** Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon**, FRS (8 June 1800 – 10 December 1849), styled Lord Porchester from 1811 to 1833, was a British writer, traveller, nobleman, and politician.

Background and education

Herbert was born in London, the eldest son of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon and Elizabeth "Kitty" Acland, daughter of John Dyke Acland of Pixton Park in Somerset. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He wrote the tragedy Don Pedro, King of Castile which was staged at Drury Lane in 1828 with William Macready and Ellen Kean.

Public life

In 1831, Porchester was elected to the House of Commons for Wootton Bassett as a Tory, a seat he held until the following year when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act. In 1833 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1841. It was during Carnarvon's lifetime that the family seat of Highclere Castle was redesigned and rebuilt by Sir Charles Barry into a Victorian mansion.

Cricket

Herbert played first-class cricket in 1822 when he was recorded in one match, totalling 1 run with a highest score of 1 and holding 2 catches.

Marriage and issue

In 1830, Lord Carnarvon married Henrietta Anna Howard-Molyneux-Howard (died 1876), eldest daughter of Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard, by whom he had three sons and two daughters:

Death

He died at Pusey, Oxfordshire, in December 1849, aged 49. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon.