George Howard or Halsey (1622 – 17 September 1671) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

between 1660 and 1671. Howard was the son of Lady Mary Howard, daughter of Sir John Fitz of Fitzford. She was married four times and had been estranged from her third husband, Sir Charles Howard of Clun Castle Shropshire, for 18 months when she gave birth to Howard in "some obscure place near London". His father was alleged to be a servant George Cuttford of Walreddon, Whitchurch, Devon. The child was christened George Halsey and his existence concealed until he was nine years old. His mother married

Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Grenville (26 June 1600 – 21 October 1659) was a professional soldier from Cornwall, who served in the Thirty Years War, and 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He was the younger brother of Sir Bevil Grenville, who died a ...

after the death of Sir Charles Howard although they were separated during the Civil War, and later when he was banished. History of Parliament Online - George Howard (formerly Halsey
/ref> Howard was commissioner for militia for Devon in March 1660. In April 1660, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in a double return at both

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

and

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. History and geography With a population of about 2,000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the rivers ...

. In both cases he was allowed to sit on the merits of the election and chose to sit for Tavistock in the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for assessment from September 1660 to 1669. In 1661 he was again elected in double returns for both Bere Alston and Tavistock and chose Tavistock again in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

. He was portreeve at Bere Alston from 1661 to 1662. He was J.P. from after 1666 to 1669. Howard died at the age of about 48 and was buried at Tavistock. Howard married Mary Burnby, daughter of Richard Burnby of Bratton Clovelly, Devon on 10 September 1655.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, George 1622 births 1671 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 Members of the Parliament of England for Tavistock