The Earl of Suffolk | |
|---|---|
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| Lord High Treasurer | |
| In office 11 July 1614 – July 1618 | |
| Preceded by | The Lord Ellesmere |
| Succeeded by | George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Lord Chamberlain of the Household | |
| In office c. 1603 – c. 1614 | |
| Preceded by | The Lord Hunsdon |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Somerset |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 August 1561 |
| Died | 28 May 1626(1626-05-28) (aged 64) |
| Resting place | St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden,Essex, England |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Dacre Katherine Knyvet |
| Children | Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk Elizabeth Howard Robert Howard Sir William Howard Catherine Howard Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire Frances Howard Sir Charles Howard Henry Howard Edward Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Escrick Margaret Howard family-name -Howard |
| Parents |
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Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk,KG, PC (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626), ofAudley End House in the parish ofSaffron Walden in Essex, and ofSuffolk House[1] nearWestminster, a member of theHouse of Howard, was the second son ofThomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wifeMargaret Audley, the daughter and eventual sole heiress ofThomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, of Audley End.
Thomas was born atAudley End on 24 August 1561, the second of four childrenThomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, had by his second wife,Margaret Audley. His older sister was Elizabeth Howard, who died in infancy, and his younger siblings wereMargaret andWilliam. His maternal grandparents wereThomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, and his second wife Elizabeth Grey. His paternal grandparents wereHenry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and his wifeFrances de Vere. On her father's side, Thomas had an older half-brother,Philip Howard, who would later becomeEarl of Arundel who in turn was also a second cousin of Thomas (Philip's mother,Mary FitzAlan and Margaret Audley were first cousins).
When his mother died in January 1564, Thomas inherited themanor ofSaffron Walden and other Audley family properties.
Thomas's father, a Roman Catholic with a Protestant education, was arrested in 1569 for being involved in intrigues against Queen Elizabeth, mainly due to the Duke's intention to marryMary I Stewart, Queen of Scots. Although he was released in August 1570, a few months later he became involved in theRidolfi plot to overthrow Elizabeth, install Mary 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 sentenced to death in January 1572. He was executed in June of that same year, when Thomas was almost eleven years old. After his father's death, Thomas and his siblings Philip, William and Margaret were left in the care of their uncleHenry Howard, who also took charge of their education. During this time, Thomas and his siblings lived with their uncle at Audley End. Due to his father's execution, much of his paternal family's property wasforfeit, although Thomas, his younger siblings, and his older half-brother Philip were able to recover some of the forfeited estates.
His father, while imprisoned in theTower awaiting execution, urged Thomas to marry his stepsister Mary Dacre, the daughter ofThomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre andElizabeth Leybourne, the duke's third wife. He did so; but Mary died, childless, in April 1578 at Walden.[2]
In or before 1582, Howard remarried, his second wife beingKatherine Knyvet, widow of Richard Rich, son ofRobert Rich, 2nd Baron Rich. A noted beauty, she was also the eldest daughter and heiress of her father, SirHenry Knyvet of Charlton.[3] She survived her husband, dying in 1633.[4]
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In December 1584, he was restored in blood asLord Thomas Howard.[2] Lord Thomas commanded theGolden Lion in the attack on theSpanish Armada. On 25 July 1588, theGolden Lion was one of the three ships that counter-attacked the Spanishgalleasses protecting theSaint Anne. He was knighted the next day aboardArk Royal by his kinsman, AdmiralLord Howard of Effingham.[9]
In 1591, he was sent with a squadron to theAzores which was to waylay the Spanish treasure fleets from America. However, one fleet reached Spain before his arrival, and the second would not arrive in the islands until September. Forced by the long delay to land his sick and repair his ships, he was barely able tore-ballast and get to sea offFlores in time when his scouts reported an arriving fleet. To his horror, this proved to be, not the treasure fleet, but a powerful Spanish force dispatched fromFerrol to destroy his squadron. All of Howard's fleet escaped, by the barest of margins, exceptRevenge, commanded by the squadron's vice-admiral,Sir Richard Grenville.Revenge, some distance from the remainder of the fleet, attempted to break through the Castilian Squadron and was forced to surrender after along fight, in whichRevenge was virtually destroyed and Grenville mortally wounded.[10]
In 1596, Howard served as vice-admiral of the expedition againstCádiz, which defeated a Spanish fleet and captured the town. Favoured byQueen Elizabeth, he was installed as aKnight of the Garter in April 1597, and in June sailed with the unsuccessful expedition to the Azores, which he had partly funded.[2]
He was seriously ill in the autumn of 1597, and was createdBaron Howard de Walden bywrit of summons. While he recovered from his illness, he was unable to attend Parliament until January 1598. On 2 February 1598, he was admitted an honorary member ofGray's Inn. In 1599, he commanded the fleet inThe Downs; in that same year, he became an admiral.[4] He was appointedConstable of the Tower of London on 13 February 1601 after the revolt of theEarl of Essex, and was one of the commission who tried Essex andSouthampton. Still active in privateering ventures, he never obtained significant profit from them. At this time, he was also sworn High Steward ofCambridge University, and would hold the post until 1614.[2] (He received anMA from Cambridge in 1605.[11])
A friend ofSir Robert Cecil, he became actingLord Chamberlain at the close of 1602, and entertained the Queen at theCharterhouse, towards the end of her life in January 1603. UnderJames I, Howard immediately entered the King's favour, being appointed Lord Chamberlain on 6 April 1603 and aPrivy Counsellor on 7 April. Later that year, on 21 July 1603, he was createdEarl of Suffolk. He was also appointed a commissioner for creatingKnights of the Bath, and from 1604 to 1618 a commissioner for theEarl Marshalcy. He was appointedLord Lieutenant of Suffolk in 1605, having several years earlier been madeLord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.[2]
Suffolk accepted a gift from the Spanish ambassador negotiating the peace treaty of 1604, but his countess proved a more valuable informant and Catholic sympathiser. Avaricious, she accepted an annual pension of £1000 from the Spanish. While Suffolk was less pro-Spanish and pro-Catholic than his wife, she was felt to dominate her husband in matters of politics, a circumstance which would later bring him to grief.[2]
By 1605, Cecil, now Earl of Salisbury, Suffolk, theEarl of Northampton, and theEarl of Worcester were James's principal privy counsellors. Suffolk and Salisbury were both privy to the communications made byLord Monteagle revealing the existence of theGunpowder Plot, and Suffolk examined the cellar, spotting the brushwood concealing the gunpowder. Later that evening, the Keeper of the Palace,Sir Thomas Knyvet (Suffolk's brother-in-law) made further search, revealing the gunpowder, and the plot collapsed. Suffolk was one of those commissioned to investigate and try the plotters.[2]
Numbered by James as one of his "trinity of knaves" (with Salisbury and Northampton), he was nonetheless thought loyal and reliable to the King. By 1607, work was completed onCharlton Park, a house which is still home to his descendants. In December 1608, Salisbury's eldest son and heir,William married Suffolk's third daughter, Catharine. Salisbury, who died in 1612, praised Suffolk's friendship in his will; and upon his death, Suffolk was appointed one of the Lords of the Treasury. Though he dislikedSir Robert Carr, the royal favourite, Suffolk supported his daughter Frances' desire to divorce her husband, theEarl of Essex to marry him. She did so in December 1613, shortly after his creation as Earl of Somerset.[2]
On 8 July 1614, Suffolk was appointedChancellor of the University of Cambridge, replacing his kinsman Northampton, and on 11 July 1614 was madeLord High Treasurer. His new son-in-law, Somerset, replaced him as Lord Chamberlain, and Suffolk and his family now dominated the court.[2]
In 1615, however, Suffolk's fall began. James had become deeply infatuated withSir George Villiers, and Suffolk's daughter Frances, now Countess of Somerset, was implicated in the poisoning ofSir Thomas Overbury. Suffolk was accused by James of complicity with Somerset in trying to suppress the investigation of the crime, but successfully weathered the storm. However, Suffolk then made the mistake of attempting to undermine the rising power of Villiers by grooming another handsome young man to succeed him in James's favour. Completely unsuccessful, this only provoked a counterattack by Villiers, now (1618) Marquess of Buckingham, upon Suffolk's conduct as Lord High Treasurer.[2]
Suffolk's finances were always in a perilous state. His early privateering and naval ventures nearly bankrupted him, despite some financial help from Queen Elizabeth. Under James, the situation was somewhat eased by his preferment at court, which gave him board and lodging and valuable emoluments, and the regrant of some of the sequestered estates of his father. Some of this he invested in land inEast Anglia, and he further benefited from a series of customs farms and bequests from relatives. He had been forced to sell his London residence, the Charterhouse, in 1611, but this was replaced in 1614 when he inherited the Earl of Northampton's house atCharing Cross. Suffolk added to his own troubles with extravagant building programmes.Audley End House, built from 1603 to 1616, was the largest private house in England. He also added an expensive new wing to Charing Cross, and his wife builtCharlton Park on the Knyvett estates she had inherited. Suffolk's children were also well provided for. He spent considerable sums to keep up their profile at court, and provided generous marriage portions to improve their matches. While this strategy was successful, it generated crushing debts for him, owing £40,000 in bonds and mortgages by 1618. His appointment as Lord High Treasurer in 1614 provided the opportunity to ameliorate his financial position through selling patronage and through deals with customs farmers, although it did not completely relieve his debts. It was also to prove the instrument of his downfall.[2]
Through the agency of Buckingham, James was made aware of Suffolk's misconduct in the Treasury, particularly allegations that Lady Suffolk harassed creditors of the crown, and extorted bribes from them before they could obtain payment. Suffolk was suspended from the Treasurership in July 1618. Early in 1619, his wife suffered an attack ofsmallpox which destroyed her famous beauty, and Suffolk himself pleaded ill health in an attempt to avoid trial. These efforts failed: in October 1619, he, his wife, and their crony SirJohn Bingley,Remembrancer of the Exchequer were prosecuted on a variety of counts of corruption in the Court ofStar Chamber.Sir Francis Bacon, the prosecutor, compared Lady Suffolk to an exchange woman keeping shop while her apprentice, Bingley, cried "What d'ye lack?" outside.[12] On 13 November 1619, they were found guilty on all counts. A fine of £30,000 was imposed, and they were sentenced to imprisonment at the King's pleasure.[2]
After ten days, Suffolk and his wife were released and appealed to Buckingham to intercede for them. Although Suffolk further irritated James by legal manoeuvres to avoid seizure of his property, Buckingham was willing to be magnanimous to his rival now that his power had been destroyed. Buckingham obtained for Suffolk an audience with the King, and the fine was subsequently remitted except for £7,000. In 1623, Suffolk's youngest sonEdward married Buckingham's niece, Mary Boteler. While Suffolk never again rose to high office, he was active in the Lords and served twice as a commissioner of ecclesiastical causes. He died at Charing Cross on 28 May 1626 and was buried on 4 June at Saffron Walden.[2]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by The Lord North | Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire 1602–1626 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by The Lord Hunsdon | Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk 1605–1626 | |
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Dorset withThe Earl of Salisbury 1611–1612 1611–1626 | |
| Preceded by | Lord Chamberlain 1603–1614 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by In commission (First Lord:The Lord Ellesmere) | Lord High Treasurer 1614–1618 | Succeeded by In commission (First Lord:George Abbot) |
| Preceded by | Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners 1615–1616 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Custos Rotulorum of Essex bef. 1621–1624 | |
| Preceded by | Custos Rotulorum of Suffolk bef. 1621–1624 | |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1614–1626 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of England | ||
| New creation | Earl of Suffolk 1603–1626 | Succeeded by |
| Baron Howard de Walden (descended byacceleration) 1597–1610 | ||
Media related toThomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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