Celebrating Hampshire's Historians

Herbert, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux (5th Earl of Carnarvon)

26 June 1866 – 5 April 1923

Lord Carnarvon is best remembered for his sponsorship of the Egyptian excavations led by Howard Carter, which culminated in the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. This high point was achieved, however, only after several years as an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist and collector of antiquities.

George Herbert was born into a life of privilege and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.  Styled Lord Porchester from birth, he succeeded to the earldom in 1890, the family seat being at Highclere Castle in the north of the county.  Part of the estate encompassed prominent Beacon Hill, and it was there, in August 1912, that Carnarvon and Leonard Woolley, later famous for his work at Ur of the Chaldees, carried out a small excavation on the summit.

By that time, Lord Carnarvon’s financial fortunes had been established with a substantial dowry (£62 million at today’s equivalent) received on his marriage to Almina Wombwell and he had been able to indulge in his favoured interests of sailing, shooting, golf, the turf and the newly emerging motor car (surviving a particularly bad crash at Bad Schwalbach, Germany, in 1909).

From 1907 onwards, he funded the excavation of nobles’ tombs near Thebes, publishing Five Years’ Explorations, co-written with Carter and others, in 1912.  In 1914, he gained the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, although investigations were interrupted by the First World War.

Work resumed in 1917, but little was found, and Carnarvon decided that 1922 would be the final year in which he would fund the expedition.  On 4 November, however, he received a telegram from Carter, urging him to hurry to Egypt, where they had unearthed ‘a magnificent tomb with seals intact’.

The opening of the tomb of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun, arguably the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century, has been well-documented and celebrated around the world.  Equally well-documented is the fact that it was not long before Lord Carnarvon fell ill, dying on the 5 April 1923, at the age of 56.

At the time, some lurid newspaper speculation focused on the ‘Curse of Tutankhamun’, suggesting that toxic fungi in the tomb had caused or contributed to his lordship’s death.  The truth was that he had cut a mosquito bite while shaving, leading to blood poisoning and, ultimately, pneumonia - this in a man who had long been prone to lung infections, exacerbated by his motoring accident 14 years before and his heavy smoking.

His body was brought back to England and interred in a lofty tomb at the western end of the Iron Age hillfort on Beacon Hill, a grave which presumably reflects his interest in the conspicuous resting-places of some of the rulers of the Nile valley.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Herbert,_5th_Earl_of_Carnarvon

• The Countess of Carnarvon (2022) The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun

Portrait

The 5th Earl of Carnarvon at Howard Carter’s house in the Valley of the Kings. (Wikimedia commons)

Contribution to county’s history

Highclere Castle reflects in good measure the worldwide interest in the lives of the aristocracy in the early years of the 20th century.  The Egyptian material illustrates the impact that a wealthy benefactor, well-established on a country estate in Hampshire, could have on world history and our appreciation of an ancient civilization..

Relevant published works

• The Earl of Carnarvon & Carter H (1912) Five Years' Explorations at Thebes – A Record of Work Done 1907–1911.

• Carnarvon, Fiona Egypt at Highclere (exhibition guide)

• The Countess of Carnarvon (2022) The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun

Critical Comments

Other Comments

Highclere Castle, the Carnarvon family seat, has appeal for those interested in historical fact and fiction.  The house was the setting for the television drama series Downton Abbey. It also contains a significant collection of Egyptian material and an exhibition which tells the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, which took place one hundred years ago.

Contributor

Dave Allen - April 2023

Key Words

Highclere Castle, Beacon Hill, Lord Carnarvon, Egyptology

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