Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire (8 October 1587 – 16 July 1669) 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 Bicameralism, 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 ...

between 1605 and 1622. He was created

Earl of Berkshire Earl of Berkshire is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. It was created for the first time in 1621 for Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire. For more information on this creation (which became extinct on his death in ...

in 1626.

Life

Howard was born in

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. Th ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, the second son of

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626), of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard ...

and his wife Catherine Knyvet. He was educated at

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. He was made a

knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in January 1605, when

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

was created

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

. He then joined the embassy of his kinsman

Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

to Spain. In November 1605, although underage, he was elected Member of Parliament for

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

in a by-election. He danced in ''

The Somerset Masque ''The Somerset Masque'', sometimes known as ''The Squire's Masque'', was written by Thomas Campion and performed on 26 December 1613 at the old Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace, to celebrate the wedding of Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset an ...

'' on 26 December 1613. Howard was elected MP for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

in 1614. In 1621 he was elected MP for

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

. In 1621 he was created Baron Howard of Charlton,

and on 7 February 1626, he was created

. He inherited the Charlton Park estate in Wiltshire from his mother. Howard held a large number of local offices and was Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire from 1628. He joined the Privy Council in 1639. At the start of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

he was imprisoned by parliament, charged with attempting to execute the king's

commission of array A commission of array was a commission given by English sovereigns to officers or gentry in a given territory to muster and array the inhabitants and to see them in a condition for war, or to put soldiers of a country in a condition for military ...

in Oxfordshire. He was subsequently released, according to

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674) was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II fro ...

because he was an ineffectual man 'that could do no harm any where'. He joined the king at Oxford, where he became tutor to the Prince of Wales. In 1646 Howard was with the Prince of Wales in Jersey, but did not accompany him to France. Instead he went to Holland and then returned to England, where he compounded with Parliament for his estate in 1649. After the

Restoration of Charles II The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

Howard rejoined the Privy Council. He died in July 1669, reportedly of a fall, and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

Family

Howard married Lady Elizabeth Cecil, daughter and co-heir of

William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter (1566 – 6 July 1640), known as the third Lord Burghley from 1605 to 1623, was an English nobleman, politician, and peer. Life Exeter was the son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and Dorothy Neville, d ...

in 1614. They had thirteen children: *

Charles Howard, 2nd Earl of Berkshire Charles Howard, 2nd Earl of Berkshire KB (1615 – April 1679) was an English peer, styled Viscount Andover from 1626 to 1669, was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire and his wife Lady Elizabeth Cecil. Early career Howard m ...

(1615–1679). * Lady Mary Howard (1616–1679) *

Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Berkshire Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Berkshire (14 November 1619 – 12 April 1706) was an English peer, styled Hon. Thomas Howard until 1679. He was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire. Howard represented Wallingford in Parliament ...

(1619–1706). * Henry Howard (playwright) * William Howard, grandfather of 11th Earl of Suffolk and 4th of Berkshire * Sir Robert Howard (1626–1698) * Lady Elizabeth Howard, married

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

* Colonel Philip Howard (1629–1717) * Lady Frances Howard, who married

Conyers Darcy, 2nd Earl of Holderness Conyers Darcy, 2nd Earl of Holderness (1622 – 13 December 1692) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons from 1660 to 1679 and later became a peer. Life Darcy was the eldest son of Conyers Darcy, 1 ...

* James Howard * Algernon Howard * Edward Howard * Lady Diana Howard (1636–1713)

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkshire, Thomas Howard, 1st Earl Of 1587 births 1669 deaths Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Thomas Howard, 01st Earl of Berkshire Knights of the Garter Lord-lieutenants of Middlesex Lord-lieutenants of Oxfordshire People from Saffron Walden Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Wiltshire 17th-century English nobility English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Cricklade Younger sons of earls