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Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (11 December 1796 – 12 May 1870), was a British peer and courtier.


Background

He was the third but eldest surviving son of The Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon (the eldest son of
Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon (2 February 1730 – 21 March 1820), styled Lord Curzon between 1794 and 1802, was a British Tory politician. Background and education Curzon was the second son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet of Kedle ...
and wife Esther Hanmer), and wife Sophia Howe, ''
suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...
'' Baroness Howe (the eldest daughter of
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a British naval officer. After serving throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations aga ...
(of the first creation), and wife Mary Hartop).


Public life

As his father predeceased his own father, Curzon inherited his grandfather's viscountcy in 1820. He took the additional name of Howe by royal licence a year later and was created
Earl Howe Earl Howe is a title that has been created twice in British history, for members of the Howe and Curzon-Howe family respectively. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was in 1788 for Richard Howe, but became extinct on his ...
(a revival of the title previously held by his maternal grandfather) that year. From 1829 to 1830, he was a
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...
to
King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
, appointed a GCH in 1830 and was
Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...
to
Queen Adelaide , house = Saxe-Meiningen , father = Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen , mother = Princess Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen, Holy Rom ...
from 1830 to 1831 and again from 1834 to 1837. On his mother's death in 1835, he inherited her barony. His office gave him considerable influence over the Queen and through her
King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
, both of whom liked and admired him. Malicious gossip that he was the Queen's lover was not taken seriously even at the time, and is entirely discounted by historians. It was his position as an extreme Tory, and his strong opposition to the
Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament, Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major chan ...
which made him unacceptable to the Government, and Lord Grey eventually insisted on his dismissal, much to the Queen's distress. Subsequent negotiations to reinstate him came to nothing. William IV's biographer described him as a man whose vanity and arrogance should have made him insufferable, yet who clearly possessed personal charm great enough to make those who knew him overlook his faults.Ziegler pp.197–201


Family

Lord Howe married Lady Harriet Georgiana Brudenell, second daughter of
Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan (25 April 1760 – 14 August 1837) was an English peer and Member of Parliament. Early life Robert Brudenell was born in Westminster, the posthumous son and heir of Colonel the Hon. Robert Brudenell and h ...
, on 19 March 1820. They had ten children: * George Augustus Frederick Louis, 2nd Earl Howe (1821–1876). * Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 3rd Earl Howe (1822–1900), ancestor of subsequent earls. *Hon. Frederick Curzon-Howe (1823–1881). Died unmarried. *Hon. Henry Dugdale Curzon-Howe (1824–1910), married Eleanor Young Swinburne (d. 28 August 1887), daughter of Maj.-Gen. John Swinburne of Keynsham, Somerset, on 22 October 1857. They had six children. *Lady Georgiana Charlotte (1825–1906), married
Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort KG, PC, DL (1 February 1824 – 30 April 1899), styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1835 and Marquess of Worcester from 1835 to 1853, was a British peer, soldier, and Conservative Party politic ...
. *Maj. Hon. William Henry Curzon-Howe (1827–1914), married first Beatrice Louisa Margaret Page (d. 10 July 1873) on 26 October 1870. He later married Emily Cowper, daughter of Frederick Cowper JP for Cumberland, on 3 November 1874. They had one daughter. *Hon. Ernest George Curzon-Howe (1828–1885), married Augusta Latham Hallifax (circa 1835 – 24 December 1917), daughter of Brig. Gen. Robert Dampier Hallifax and granddaughter of Samuel Hallifax, Bishop of Gloucester and St. Asaph. They had six children. * Hon. Leicester Smyth (1829–1891). *Lady Adelaide Curzon-Howe (1835–1903), married
Francis Fane, 12th Earl of Westmorland Colonel Francis William Henry Fane, 12th Earl of Westmorland CB, DL (19 November 18253 August 1891), styled Lord Burghersh between 1851 and 1859, was a British Army Officer and racehorse owner. Background and education Fane was the fourth but ...
. * Lady Emily Mary Curzon-Howe (1836–1910), married Sir Robert Kingscote. She was a Lady of the Bedchamber to
Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...
. Howe's first wife died in 1836, and on 9 October 1845, he married Anne Gore (d. 1877), second daughter of Admiral Sir John Gore. They had three children: * Hon. Montagu Curzon (21 September 1846 – 1 September 1907), married on 19 October 1886 to Esmé FitzRoy (1859 – 25 May 1939, daughter of Francis Horatio FitzRoy (1823–1900) and wife Gertrude Duncombe (1827 –)), whose daughter Mary married her cousin the 5th Earl Howe and was mother of the 6th Earl Howe. * Lady Mary Anna (1848–1929), married the 2nd Duke of Abercorn; ancestors of subsequent dukes. * Admiral Sir Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe (1850–1911)


References


External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl 1796 births 1870 deaths 1 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV