His father, Patrick Herbert, who had been born in County Kerry, Ireland, came from an Irish Catholic background and had attended Trinity College, Dublin, during the same period as Oscar Wilde. Herbert's mother, Beatrice Selwyn Herbert, whose family had included several Anglican bishops, died when her eldest son was only seven. The family moved to London, where Herbert's father worked in the India Office. The future writer was sent to The Grange, a preparatory school at Folkestone, and in 1904 he went on to Winchester, one of the oldest English public schools. He remained there for six years, and during that time he began writing poetry. His compositions earned him the King's Gold Medal for English verse in addition to the Silver Medal for English speech and a prize for Latin verse. Next came four years, 1910-1914, at New College, Oxford, where he read classics and obtained a degree in law.
The year he graduated from the university saw the outbreak of World War I, which led Herbert to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He married Gwendolen Harriet Quilter, a cousin of the composer Roger Quilter, on 31 December 1914; they would have a son and three daughters.
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