Family and Education

b. c.1696, 2nd s. of Charles Howard, M.P., 3rd Earl of Carlisle, by Lady Anne Capell, da. of Arthur, 1st Earl of Essex; bro. of Henry, Lord Morpeth. unm. K.B. 2 May 1749.

Offices Held

Ensign 2 Ft. Gds. 1715, capt. 1717, capt. and lt.-col. 1719; col. and a.-d.-c. to George II 1734; col. 19 Ft. 1 Nov. 1738-48;1 brig.-gen. 1742; maj.-gen. 1743; commanded a brigade at Dettingen and Fontenoy, where he was wounded four times; lt.-gen. 1747; col. 3 Drag. Gds. 1748-d.; gen. 1765.

Lt. gov. Carlisle 1725-49, gov. 1749-52; gov. Inverness and Fort Augustus 1752-d.

Biography

Howard was returned on his family’s interest. Unlike his elder brother, Lord Morpeth, he invariably supported the Administration. When instructed by his constituents to oppose the excise bill before its details had been made known, he replied that ‘as I was ignorant what the proposal would be, I believed they, at a greater distance, could not be much less so’, and asked them if they wished him to vote against it whatever he thought of it. He was authorized to vote as he thought fit. He is not reported as speaking but sent his father long reports of parliamentary proceedings. In 1734, after repeated applications, he was offered the choice between becoming a groom of the bedchamber and being appointed a.-d.-c. to the King with the rank of colonel, choosing the latter, because ‘though the aide-de-camp was but ten shillings a day, yet for the sake of getting the rank of colonel I preferred it to the other, which was much a better income’.2

During the rebellion of 1745, after Carlisle had been recaptured from the rebels, Howard was put in command of the city. As commandant he did not show towards his constituents ‘that complaisance’ which his local political supporters regarded as ‘necessary, or at least convenient for his interest’. When told ‘that it was not only his own personal interest that would be lost, but that of the family also for ever, he replied he would not do dirty work upon any consideration’. His last act as commandant of Carlisle was to commit two of its aldermen to gaol on a charge of having carried the keys of the city to the Young Pretender. However, though thought by his friends to have ‘rather hurt, than augmented, his interest’,3 he retained his seat unopposed till he retired in 1761.

He died 26 Aug. 1765.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Romney R. Sedgwick

Notes

• 1. From him the regt. received the title of the 'Green Howards'.
• 2. HMC Carlisle, 102-31, 138.
• 3. G. G. Mounsey, Carlisle in 1745, 178, 196, 201, 205.