Percy Herbert

Percy Mark Herbert (24 April 1885 – 22 January 1968) was the first Bishop of Blackburn from 1927 then Bishop of Norwich from 1942 to 1959. He was the Clerk of the Closet from 1942 to 1963. An active Freemason, he was Provincial Grand Master for Norfolk.

Early life Percy was the second son of Sybella Augusta ( Milbank) Herbert and Maj.-Gen. Hon. William Henry Herbert, the Mayor of Shrewsbury who lived at Winsley Hall, Shrewsbury. His elder brother, Henry James Herbert, died unmarried in 1911.

His paternal grandparents were Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis and the former Lady Lucy Graham (a daughter of James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose). His maternal grandparents were Mark William Vane Milbank (grandson of William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland) and Barbarina Sophia Farquhar (a daughter of Sir Thomas Farquhar, 2nd Baronet). In 1921 he was appointed Bishop of Kingston and served as Chaplain to King George V between 1921 and 1922. He was Archdeacon of Southwark and Bishop Suffragan of Kingston upon Thames between 1922 and 1926. He held the office of Bishop of Norwich between 1942 and 1959,

After retiring from his post as Bishop of Norwich, Herbert became Rector of St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham. It was at that church in 1961 where he baptised the Honourable Diana Spencer (later Princess of Wales). He was Clerk of the Closet to King George VI from 1942 to 1952 and then to Queen Elizabeth II from 1952 to 1963. daughter of William Orde-Powlett, 5th Baron Bolton and the former Hon. Elizabeth Gibson (a daughter of Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne). Together, they had four children (who were granted the rank of earl's children in 1991): Through his eldest son, he is a grandfather of John Herbert, 8th Earl of Powis.