Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For other people named Henry Howard, see Henry Howard (disambiguation).
His Grace
Duke of Norfolk
KG PC FRS
Earl Marshal
In office
13 January 1684 – 2 April 1701
MonarchsCharles II
James II
William III
Preceded byThe 6th Duke of Norfolk
Succeeded byThe 8th Duke of Norfolk
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
13 January 1684 – 2 April 1701
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 6th Duke of Norfolk
Succeeded byThe 8th Duke of Norfolk
Personal details
Born11 January 1655
Died2 April 1701 (1701-04-03) (aged 46)
Mary Mordaunt
Parents
(father)
  • Anne Somerset (mother)

    • Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk, KG PC FRS Earl Marshal (11 January 1655 – 2 April 1701) was an English nobleman, politician, and soldier. He was the son of Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, and Lady Anne Somerset, daughter of Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester, and Elizabeth Dormer. He was summoned to the House of Lords in his own right as Baron Mowbray in 1678. His unhappy marriage was the subject of much gossip, and ended in divorce.

    Marriage, separation and divorce

    He married

    Mary Mordaunt, the only surviving daughter and heiress of the 2nd Earl of Peterborough and Penelope O'Brien. They separated in 1685. He divorced her for her adultery with Sir John Germain in 1700, after a previous attempt at divorce in 1692 had failed when the House of Lords threw out his private Divorce Bill. Although he succeeded in obtaining damages in an action for criminal conversation, the details were so sordid that he may well have regretted the step, especially since the jury reduced his claim for £100,000 damages to £66, for which they were severely reprimanded by the presiding judge. The Duke was evidently in no position to condemn his wife's moral conduct: even his own counsel called it frankly a case of the pot calling the kettle black.[1]

    He died without children, and was succeeded by his nephew, Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk. His former wife married secondly Sir John Germain, 1st Baronet, who had been her lover for many years. She died in 1705.

    He was rarely on good terms with his father, particularly after 1677 when his father married

    Jane Bickerton, his mistress of many years standing, an act which caused a violent family quarrel.[2]

    Later life

    Like almost all the Howards of Norfolk he was a devout

    Roman Catholic, but during the anti-Catholic hysteria engendered by the Popish Plot he publicly conformed to the Church of England.[3] There is little doubt that this was simply a device to save the family estates. The ploy seems to have succeeded; although his father was charged with recusancy in 1680, the charge was quickly dropped. While the senior Howard line survived unscathed, their cousin William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, was executed for his supposed part in the Plot in December 1680.[4] Henry as a peer in his own right, Baron Mowbray, sat as one of the peers who tried him. It is a sign of his moral courage and independent judgment, given the anti-Catholic feeling in the country, that he voted Not Guilty. This was the more notable since according to John Evelyn, of Stafford's extended family in the House of Lords, (eight of them in all), he was the only one to do so, Stafford being a man "not beloved by his family".[5]

    He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1672. His father was already a fellow and was a generous benefactor of Society.

    On 20 June 1685, he was appointed Colonel of the

    Test Act, he replied bluntly that he knew that all those in favour of repeal would fit comfortably in one coach.[7] When asked to replace the magistrates in his dukedom with more compliant ones he simply refused and prudently went to France,[8] but returned in time to welcome the Glorious Revolution
    .

    He served as a

    Berkshire Militia under William and Mary.[9][10]

    The first HMS Norfolk was named after him.

    His private surgeon was Thomas Greenhill.

    Death

    A written account of the death of the 7th Duke of Norfolk, who died in London on Wednesday (O.S.) 2 April 1701 by his secretary Francis Negus.

    Aprill ye 3rd 1701

    Sir,

    My Lord Duke died suddendly yesterday about eleven of the clock. His body was opened this night and all parts well, but destroyed with coagulated blood.

    Sir, Your afflicted humble servant.

    ffr. Negus

    For Mr Edward L'Estrange at Mileham Norfolke

    — Norfolk lieutenancy journal, 1676-1701, transcribed and edited by Basil Cozens-Hardy, Norfolk Record Society, 1961.

    Family

    Ancestry

    Family tree

    References

    1. ^ "The proceedings in Parliament upon the bill of divorce between his Grace the Duke of Norfolk and the Lady Mary Mordant". A complete collection of State Trials and proceedings for High Treason and other Crimes and Misdemeanors. 13 (409, column 1283). 1812.
    2. ^ Kenyon, J.P. The Popish Plot Phoenix Press Reissue 2000 p. 35
    3. ^ Kenyon p.35
    4. ^ Kenyon p.232
    5. ^ Evelyn Diary 7 December 1680
    6. ^ Kenyon, J.P. The Stuart Constitution 2nd Edition Cambridge University Press p.447
    7. ^ Kenyon, J.P. Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland 1641-1702 Longman Greens London 1958 p.173
    8. ^ Kenyon Stuart Constitution p.464
    9. ^ Rev Percy Sumner, 'Militia Regiments in 1690', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol 28, No 116 (Winter 1950), p. 186.
    10. ^ "Col George Jackson Hay, An Epitomized History of the Militia (The Constitutional Force), London:United Service Gazette, 1905, p. 114". Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2022.

    See also

    Political offices
    Preceded by Earl Marshal
    1684–1701     		Succeeded by
    Military offices
    New regiment Colonel of The Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot
    1685–1686     		Succeeded by
    Colonel of The Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot
    1688–1689     		Succeeded by
    Honorary titles
    Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Surrey
    1682–1701     		Succeeded by
    Constable of Windsor Castle

    1682–1701     		Succeeded by
    The Duke of Northumberland
    Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
    1682–1701     		Succeeded by
    Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Berkshire
    1689–1701
    Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk
    1683–1701     		Succeeded by
    Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Norfolk
    1689–1701
    Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Surrey
    1689     		Succeeded by
    Peerage of England
    Preceded by Duke of Norfolk
    1684–1701     		Succeeded by
    Baron Mowbray
    (writ of acceleration)
    1677–1701
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Howard,_7th_Duke_of_Norfolk&oldid=1216566664"