Herbert family, Earls of Carnarvon

Henry Herbert (1741-1811), grandson of the 8th Earl of Pembroke (see Herbert, Earls of Pembroke), inherited Highclere and Burghclere (Hampshire) from an uncle, Robert Sawyer Herbert, and was created Earl of Carnarvon in 1793. This estate was subsequently enlarged by purchases at Ecchinswell and elsewhere. Property situated mainly around Dulverton (Somerset), including Pixton, Brushford and Bampton (Devon) was acquired on the 2nd Earl's marriage in 1796 to Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel John Dyke Acland and heiress to part of the estates of the Acland family, baronets, of Columb John (Devon). Christian Malford (Wiltshire) had been purchased in 1749.

Teversall and Kneeton (Nottinghamshire) were acquired through the 3rd Earl's marriage in 1830 to Henrietta (d. 1876), daughter of Lord Henry Thomas Molyneux-Howard, who had inherited them from his uncle Sir Francis Molyneux, 7th baronet. They were sold about 1929. Another marriage, that of the 4th Earl to Evelyn, sister and, on his death in 1871, heir of the 7th Earl of Chesterfield, brought into the family considerable Stanhope family estates, including Bretby (Derbyshire) and Shelford (Nottinghamshire).

The 4th Earl married secondly in 1878, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Howard of Greystoke. In 1901 she bought Pixton and 5,000 acres in Somerset from the 5th Earl for her eldest son by the 4th Earl, Aubrey Herbert (1880-1923), who in 1910 married Mary, daughter of John Vesey, 4th Viscount de Vesci. In the 1880s the 4th Earl had bought property in Sydney and Perth (Australia), New Zealand, Canada and Italy. This passed to his widow and was evidently disposed of before the First World War.

Estates in 1883: Earl of Carnarvon: 13,247 acres in Nottinghamshire; 12,800 acres in Somerset; 9,340 acres in Hampshire; 120 acres in Derbyshire; 68 acres in Devon; 8 acres in Wiltshire; worth a total of £37,211 a year. Dowager Countess of Chesterfield: 5,209 acres in Derbyshire and 8 acres in Staffordshire worth £10,760 a year.