George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, DL (26 June 1866 - 5 April 1923), styled Lord Porchester until 1890, was an English peer and aristocrat best known as the financial backer of the search for and the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Video George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon
Background and education
Styled Lord Porchester from birth, he was born at the family seat, Highclere Castle, in Hampshire, the only son of Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, a distinguished Tory statesman, by his first wife Lady Evelyn Stanhope, daughter of George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield. Aubrey Herbert was his half-brother. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He inherited the Bretby Hall estate in Derbyshire from his maternal grandmother, Anne Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Chesterfield (1802-1885), and succeeded his father in the earldom in 1890.
Maps George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon
Family
Lord Carnarvon married Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell, illegitimate daughter of millionaire banker Alfred de Rothschild, at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on 26 June 1895. Rothschild provided a marriage settlement of £500,000 and paid off all Lord Carnarvon's existing debts. The Carnarvons had two children:
- Henry George Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon (7 November 1898 - 22 September 1987), who married Anne Catherine Tredick Wendell (d.1977) and had one son (the 7th Earl) and one daughter. They divorced in 1936 and from 1939 to 1947, he was married to actress and dancer Tilly Losch.
- Lady Evelyn Leonora Almina Herbert (15 August 1901 - 31 January 1980), who married Sir Brograve Beauchamp, 2nd Baronet and had a daughter.
Horse racing
Exceedingly wealthy due to his marriage settlement, Carnarvon was at first best known as an owner of racehorses and a reckless driver of early cars, suffering in 1901 a serious motoring accident near Bad Schwalbach in Germany, after which he never fully recovered his health. In 1902, he established Highclere Stud to breed thoroughbred racehorses. In 1905, he was appointed one of the Stewards at the new Newbury Racecourse. His family has maintained the connection ever since. His grandson, the 7th Earl, was racing manager to Queen Elizabeth II from 1969, and one of the Queen's closest friends.
Egyptology
Lord Carnarvon was an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, and Lord and Lady Carnarvon often spent their winters in Egypt, where they bought antiquities for their collection in England.
In 1907 Lord Carnarvon undertook to sponsor the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahri, near Thebes. He employed Howard Carter to undertake the work, on the recommendation of Gaston Maspero, Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Department.
In 1914 Lord Carnarvon received the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, replacing Theodore Davis who had resigned, Carter again leading the work. Excavations were interrupted during the First World War, but resumed in late 1917. By 1922 little of significance had been found and Lord Carnarvon decided this would be the final year he would fund the work. However, on 4 November 1922, Carter was able to send a telegram to Lord Carnarvon, in England, saying:
"At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival; congratulations".
Lord Carnarvon, accompanied by his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert, returned to Egypt. The tomb was to be officially opened under the supervision of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities on 29th November. However, on the 26th and 27th November Carter, his assistant Arthur Challender, Lord Carnarvon and Lady Evelyn made several unauthorised visits inside the tomb and were present when Carter made a tiny breach in the top left hand corner of the tomb's doorway. He was able to peer in by the light of a candle. Carnarvon asked, "Can you see anything?" Carter replied with the famous words: "Yes, wonderful things!" They then entered the tomb, becoming the first people in modern times to do so. Challender rigged up electric lighting, illuminating a jumble of items, including gilded couches, chests, thrones, and shrines. They also found two more sealed doorways, including one to the inner burial chamber, guarded by two life-size statues of Tutankhamun. A small hole was found in this doorway and Carter, Carnarvon and Lady Evelyn crawled through it into the inner burial chamber. Lord Carnarvon travelled to England in December 1922, returning in January 1923 to be present at the official opening of the inner burial chamber on 16 February. This was to be Lord Carnarvon's last significant involvement in the excavation project, he falling seriously ill shortly afterwards.
Death
On 19 March 1923 Carnarvon suffered a severe mosquito bite infected by a razor cut. On 5 April, he died in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo. This led to the story of the "Curse of Tutankhamun", the "Mummy's Curse". His death is most probably explained by blood poisoning (progressing to pneumonia) after accidentally shaving a mosquito bite infected with erysipelas. Lady Almina Carnarvon took Lord Carnarvon's remains back to England.
Carnarvon's tomb, appropriately for an archaeologist, is located within an ancient hill fort overlooking his family seat at Beacon Hill, Burghclere, Hampshire. Carnarvon was survived by his wife Almina, who remarried, and their two children.
In popular culture
- Carnarvon has been portrayed several times in film, video game and television productions:
- By Harry Andrews in the 1980 Columbia Pictures Television production The Curse of King Tut's Tomb.
- By Julian Curry in the 1998 IMAX documentary Mysteries of Egypt.
- By Julian Wadham in the 2005 BBC docudrama Egypt.
- By Sam Neill in the 2016 ITV series Tutankhamun.
- In the film The Mummy the character Evelyn Carnahan is named in tribute to Lord Carnarvon's daughter Lady Evelyn whose father, although not named, is described as one of Egyptology's "finest patrons".
- 'Lord Carnarvon' is the quest leader for the Archaeologist role in the classic text-based video game Nethack.
- His country house, Highclere Castle, serves as the filming location of the ITV/PBS television series Downton Abbey, except that the below-stairs scenes were filmed on a set in London, as Highclere's basement is the home of Carnarvon's Egyptian collections. Highclere is owned by the present earl.
Ancestry
Works
- Earl of Carnarvon; et al. (1912). Five years' explorations at Thebes: a record of work done 1907-1911. London: Henry Frowde.
References
Further reading
- with Howard Carter, Five Years' Explorations at Thebes - A Record of Work Done 1907-1911, ed. Paul Kegan, 2004 (ISBN 0-7103-0835-3).
- Five Years' Explorations at Thebes
- Fiona Carnarvon, Egypt at Highclere - The discovery of Tutankhamun, Highclere Enterprises LPP, 2009.
- Fiona Carnarvon, Carnarvon & Carter - the story of the two Englishman who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, Highclere Enterprises LPP, 2007.
- Elisabeth David, Gaston Maspero 1846-1916, Pygmalion/Gérard Watelet, 1999 (ISBN 2-85704-565-4).
- Cross William, Carnarvon, Carter and Tutankhamun Revisited. The hidden truths and doomed relationships, Book Midden Publishing, 2016 (ISBN 978-1905914-36-4).
- Cross William, Lordy! Tutankhamun's Patron As A Young Man , Book Midden Publishing, 2012 (ISBN 978-1-905914-05-0).
- Cross William, The Life and Secrets of Almina Carnarvon : 5th Countess of Carnarvon of Tutankhamun Fame , 3rd Ed 2011 ( ISBN 978-1-905914-08-1).
- Cross William, Catherine and Tilly: Porchey Carnarvon's Two Duped Wives: The Tragic Tales of the Sixth Countesses of Carnarvon, Book Midden Publishing, 2013 ( ISBN 978-1905914-25-8).
External links
- Works by Carnarvon at Project Gutenberg
- Hansard 1803-2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Carnarvon
- George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon Bio at Highclere Castle
- Highclere Castle, home of the 5th Earl
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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