Hubert John Edward Dominic Howard (23 December 1907 – 17 February 1987) was an English intelligence officer who lived in Italy.

Early life

Howard was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

on 23 December 1907. He was educated at the

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originall ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was the third of five sons of the diplomat Sir Esmé William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith, by his wife, Lady Isabella Giovanna Teresa Gioachina Giustiniani-Bandini. Among his brothers were

Francis Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Penrith Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

and journalist

Henry Anthony Camillo Howard Henry Anthony Camillo Howard (3 March 1913 – 15 October 1977) was a British journalist, military officer, and Colonial Office, colonial leader in the Caribbean. Early life and family Howard was the son of Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Pe ...

. His father later served as His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America from 1924 to 1930. His father was the fourth son of MP Henry Howard of

Greystoke Castle Greystoke Castle is in the village of Greystoke west of Penrith in the county of Cumbria in northern England. (). Details In 1069, after the Norman conquest the English landlord Ligulf de Greystoke was re-granted his land and he built a woode ...

(eldest son of

Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard Lord Henry Thomas Howard-Molyneux-Howard (7 October 1766 – 17 June 1824), known as Henry Howard until 1812, and as Henry Molyneux-Howard until 1817, was a British gentleman who served as Deputy Earl Marshal in the latter part of the reign of Ge ...

, a younger brother of

Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk Bernard Edward Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk, (21 November 1765 – 16 March 1842) was a British peer. Early life Howard was the son of Henry Howard (1713–1787) by his wife Juliana Molyneux, daughter of Sir William Molyneux, 6th Baronet (die ...

). and the former Charlotte Caroline Georgiana Long (eldest daughter of Henry Lawes Long of Hampton Lodge and Lady Catherine Walpole, a daughter of

Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford, KB (1701 – 31 March 1751), was a British peer and politician, styled Lord Walpole from 1723 to 1745. Origins He was the eldest son of Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745), the King's First Minister, now re ...

). His maternal grandparents were Sigismondo Niccolo Venanzio Gaetano Francisco Giustiniani-Bandini, 1st Prince Bandini-Giustiniani and 8th Earl of Newburgh and Maria Sophia Angelica Massani (daughter and co-heiress of Cavaliere Giuseppe Maria Massani of Rome).

Career

Early in 1940, Howard volunteered for the British expeditionary force to Finland. In 1941, he was assigned to the Allies' Psychological Warfare Branch (PWB) in Italy, with which he served as an intelligence officer throughout the Italian campaign.

Personal life

On 17 September 1951, Howard was married to Lelia Calista Ada

Caetani The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family, originally from the city of Gaeta, connected by some to the lineage of the lords of the Duchy of Gaeta, as well as to the patrician Gaetani of the Republic of Pisa. It play ...

(1913–1977), painter and plantswoman, the only daughter of Marguerite (née Chapin) Caetani and the noted composer Roffredo Caetani, 17th Duke of Sermoneta and 8th Prince of

Teano Teano ( Teanese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's ...

, who was the last of her 1,000-year-old family line. There were no children of the marriage. His wife died on 11 January 1977. Howard died ten years later on 17 February 1987, aged 79. The couple continued the restoration of the Caetani family's garden at their estate of Ninfa,

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, which Lelia had inherited on the death of her brother, who died on the Albanian front in 1940. The couple transformed it into one of the most widely admired gardens in Italy. The garden is laid out among the romantic ruins of a small castle and village which had been abandoned in 1381, set on the edge of the

Pontine Marshes 250px, Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain The Pontine Marshes (, also ; it, Agro Pontino , formerly also ''Paludi Pontine''; la, Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, ''Pomptina Palus'' (singular) and ''Pomptinae Paludes'' (plur ...

south of Rome. Today over 10,000 shrubs, plants and flowering trees grow among the medieval ruins and a lake formed by damming the river Ninfa. The garden owes little to the formal Italian style, but is developed in an English tradition of plantsmanship and painterly sensitivity. Ninfa has been described as "the most romantic garden in the world". Ownership of the garden was transferred to the Roffredo Caetani Foundation, named after the father of Lelia Howard, which continues to manage the garden today. It is open to the public at set times from April to November.Charles Quest-Ritson, ''The Most Romantic Garden in the World'', 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Hubert John Edward Dominic 1907 births 1987 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British Army officers English landscape architects English gardeners English landscape and garden designers English people of Italian descent People educated at Downside School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Younger sons of barons

Hubert Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and '' beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers ...

British expatriates in the United States British expatriates in Italy