Description: William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, KG, PC (8 April 1580 û 10 April 1630) was the son of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and his third wife Mary Sidney (see image DCHQ200218). Chancellor of the University of Oxford, he founded Pembroke College, Oxford with James VI of Scotland and I of England. He was also a patron of William Shakespeare.
He married Mary Talbot (see image DCHQ200127), the dwarfish and deformed daughter of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, on 4 November 1604.
William's brother Philip, became the 4th Earl of Pembroke on William's death in 1630. Mary Sidney's sons are the "Incomparable Pair", to whom William Shakespeare's First Folio is dedicated in 1623. At different times, both were patrons of the King's Men, Shakespeare's acting troupe.
This image is one of a collection by the famous local antiquarian, Thomas Bateman, of Middleton by Youlgreave. (1821-1861). Bateman organized his collection by inserting them into a 4 volume copy of Lysons Magna Britannia, Derbyshire, creating a fascinating and unique illustrated record of the county. The purchase of the collection for Derbyshire Libraries was made possible by the generous bequest of Miss Frances Webb of Whaley Bridge, well known local historian, who died in December 2006.