Magdalen Herbert

She was born in 1561, she was the daughter of Sir Richard Newport of High Ercall, Shropshire.[2] Her maternal grandfather was the executor of Henry VIII.[2]

She married Richard Herbert, Lord of Cherbury at her family home in Eyton on Severn in 1581. He was the eldest son of Edward Herbert who was a member of a collateral branch of the family of the Earls of Pembroke.[2]

Her husband died in 1596 and for the next thirteen years she was the estate manager.[2]

She had a tomb erected in the church where her husband was buried in 1600. The tomb has effigies of Richard and herself and it includes maquettes of their eight children. Her husband's heraldic symbols and his armour are included but his wife's heraldry and her dress are also are on prominent display. The tomb also includes a cadaver to show that death happens and a painting of a naked woman and the effigy of Time are also included in the design.[2]

She managed her own death.[2] Her funeral took place on 1 July 1627 and John Donne made the funeral oration.[1] Magdelen is seen as the head of an early English literary family.[1]

Their eldest son, Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury was born on 3 March 1583 at Eyton on Severn near Wroxeter, Shropshire. Subsequent children were Elizabeth, Margaret, Richard, William, Charles, the poet George Herbert (born 3 April 1593), Henry (born 1595), Frances, and Thomas (born posthumously 1597).[3] By 1593 they had moved to Black Hall, a large, low house in a valley overlooked by Montgomery Castle.

After her husband's death she had a close (possibly passionate) relationship with the poet John Donne which lasted up to her death.[4] Donne wrote a poem, "Ascension: To the Lady Magdalen Herbert", addressed to her.[5]