Lord William Howard

Lord William Howard
Born	(1563-12-19)19 December 1563 Audley End,Essex
Died	7 October 1640(1640-10-07)(aged 76) Greystoke, Cumbria
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Spouse	Elizabeth Dacre ​ ​ (after1577)​
Parent(s)	Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk Margaret Audley
Relatives	Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk(brother) Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel(half-brother) Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley(grandfather) Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey(grandfather)

Lord William Howard(19 December 1563 – 7 October 1640) was an Englishnoblemanandantiquary,sometimes known as "Belted Will" or "Bauld (bold) Will".

Early life

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of NorfolkandMargaret Audley,William's parents

Howard was born on 19 December 1563 atAudley End,Essex,the fourth and last child ofThomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolkby his second wife,Margaret Audley.His older siblings were Elizabeth, who died as a child,ThomasandMargaret.His maternal grandparents wereThomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Waldenand his second wife Elizabeth Grey. His paternal grandparents wereHenry Howard, Earl of Surreyand his wifeFrances de Vere.On his father's side, William had an older half-brother,Philip Howard,who was also William's second cousin (because Philip's mother,Mary FitzAlanand Margaret Audley were first cousins). After his mother's death in January 1564, William's father married, thirdly,Elizabeth (née Leyburne) Dacre(widow ofThomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacreand the eldest daughter of Sir James Leyburne of Cunswick).

William's father, a Roman Catholic with a Protestant education, was arrested in 1569 for being involved in intrigues againstQueen Elizabeth I,mainly because of the Duke's intention to marryMary, Queen of Scots.Although he was released in August 1570, a few months later he became involved in theRidolfi plotto overthrow Elizabeth, install Mary of Scots on the English throne and restore Catholicism, and was arrested again in September 1571, when his participation in the plot was discovered. Norfolk was tried for high treason and then sentenced to death in January 1572; He was executed in June of that same year, when William was eight years old. After his father's death, William and his siblings Philip, Thomas and Margaret were left in the care of their uncle,Henry Howard,who also he took charge of their education. During this time, William and his siblings lived with their uncle atAudley End.Due to his father's execution, much of his paternal family's property wasforfeited,although William and his siblings, along with their older half-brother Philip were able to recover some of the forfeited estates.

His paternal grandparents wereLord Henry Howard,styledEarl of Surrey(the eldest son ofThomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk) andLady Frances de Vere(third daughter ofJohn de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxfordand, his second wife,Elizabeth Trussell,daughter and heiress of Sir John Trussell).After his grandfather's execution in 1547, his grandmother married Thomas Staynings of East Soham. His mother, the widow of Lord Henry Dudley (the youngest son ofJohn Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland), was the daughter ofThomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Waldenand, his second wife, Lady Elizabeth Grey (third daughter ofThomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset).

Career

After his marriage in 1577, he went up to theUniversity of Cambridge.Lord William was a learned and accomplished scholar, praised byWilliam Camden,to whom he sent inscriptions and drawings from relics collected by him from the Roman wall, as "a singular lover of valuable antiquity and learned withal." SirWalter Scottreferred to him as "Belted Will" in theLay of the Last Minstrel.

Being suspected of treasonable intentions together with his half-brother,Philip, Earl of Arundel(husband of his sister-in-law Anne Dacre), he was imprisoned in 1583, 1585 and 1589. He joined theChurch of Romein 1584, both brothers being dispossessed by the queen of a portion of their Dacre estates, which were, however, restored in 1601 for a payment of £10,000.

Howard then took up residence with his children and grandchildren atNaworth CastleinCumberland,restored the castle, improved the estate and established order in that part of the country. He collected a valuable library, of which most of the printed works remain at Naworth, though the manuscripts have been dispersed, a portion being now among the Arundel manuscripts in theCollege of Arms;he corresponded withJames Ussherand was intimate with Camden, SirHenry Spelman,and SirRobert Cotton,whose eldest son married his daughter. In 1592, he published an edition ofFlorence of Worcester'sChronicon ex Chronicis,dedicated toLord Burghley,and drew up agenealogyof his family.

In 1603, on the accession ofJames Ito the English throne, Howard was restored in blood. In 1618 he was made one of the commissioners for the Scotland/England border, and performed services in upholding the law and suppressing marauders.

Personal life

On 28 October 1577, he married his step-sister Elizabeth Dacre, third daughter ofThomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacreand the formerElizabeth Leyburne.She was also the sister and co-heiress ofGeorge Dacre, 5th Baron Dacre.After Elizabeth's father died, her mother married his father in 1566. Together, Elizabeth and William were the parents of:

• Sir Philip Howard (b. 1581), who married Margaret Carryl (c. 1583–c. 1614), daughter of Sir John Carryl of Harting.
• Sir Francis Howard (1588–1660) ofCorby Castlewho married Margaret Preston, daughter of John Preston of Furness. After her death in 1625, he married Mary Widdrington, a daughter ofSir Henry Widdrington.
• Sir William Howard
• Sir Charles Howard
• Col. Sir Thomas Howard, who married Elizabeth Eure, eldest daughter of Sir William Eure,MPforScarborough(third son ofWilliam Eure, 2nd Baron Eure), and Catherine Bowes,de juresuo jureBaroness Scrope of Bolton(only child of Sir William Bowes ofStreatlam Castleand, his first wife, Mary Scrope, only child by his first wife ofHenry Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Bolton).
• Margaret Howard (c. 1580–c. 1620), who married Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet of Conington, in 1617.
• Mary Howard, who married Sir John Wintour.
• Elizabeth Howard, who married, as his first wife,Sir Henry BedingfeldofOxburgh Hall,son and heir of Thomas Bedingfeld and Frances Jerningham (daughter and co-heiress ofJohn Jerningham,ofSomerleyton).

He died on 7 October 1640atGreystoke,to which place he had been removed when failing in health, to escape the Scots who were threatening an advance on Naworth. His eldest son Philip was the grandfather ofCharles, 1st Earl of Carlisle,and his second son Francis was the ancestor of the Howards of Corby.

Legacy

William Howard School,the secondary school in Brampton, Cumbria, is named after him.

External links

• Creighton, Mandell(1885–1900)."Howard, William (1563-1640)".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Howard, Lord William".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 834.