Francis Howard, 5th Baron Howard of Effingham ( – 30 March 1695) was an English colonial administrator who served as the
governor of Virginia
The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...
from 1683 to 1692. A member of the
Howard family
The Howard family is an English noble family
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has of ...
, he was a descendant of
William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham.
[Birth year is estimated from baptism record. For death year, Bolton, p. 152 gives 1695 (New Style) while Tyler, p. 54 gives 1694 (Old Style). Both are corroborated elsewhere.]
Family
He was the son of Sir Charles Howard and Frances Courthope. Francis Howard's paternal grandfather was the first cousin of both
Charles Howard, 2nd Earl of Nottingham and
Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Nottingham.
[Although sources vary on the 5th Baron's ancestors' names and places of residence, the relation to the preceding barons is generally agreed.] His maternal grandfather was Sir George Courthope of Whiligh,
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
.
[Tyler, p. 53.] Francis was baptised on 17 September 1643 in Great Bookham near Effingham in
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
.
[Bolton, p. 151.] On 8 July 1673, he married Philadelphia Pelham, daughter of Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet Pelham of Laughton and half-aunt of
Thomas Pelham, eventual 1st Baron Pelham of Laughton.
Francis and Philadelphia were the parents of Thomas Howard, 6th Baron Howard of Effingham and
Francis Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham as well as another son and three daughters.
In 1681, Howard's cousin, the 3rd Earl of Nottingham, died and did not leave a male heir; nor did his two half-brothers. The earldom was declared extinct, but the title of Baron Howard of Effingham was passed on to Francis Howard.
Virginia
Lord Howard was appointed Governor of Virginia in 1683.
[Bolton, p. 151 gives August 1683 while Tyler, p. 53 gives 28 September 1683.] His family relocated there in February 1684, and Howard lived primarily at
Rosegill plantation in
Middlesex County.
[Tyler, p. 54.] Howard commenced his duties as Governor on 16 April 1684.
[Brock, p. 27.] (The previous governor,
Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, had departed suddenly in 1683. He was replaced by acting Governor
Nicholas Spencer, Culpepper's cousin, agent, and president of the council, until Lord Howard's arrival nine months later.)
''Virginia and Virginians: Eminent Virginians,'' Robert Alonzo Brock (secretary of the Va. Historical Society), Virgil Anson Lewis, Vol. I, H.H. Hardesty, Richmond, 1888"> ''Virginia and Virginians: Eminent Virginians,'' Robert Alonzo Brock (secretary of the Va. Historical Society), Virgil Anson Lewis, Vol. I, H.H. Hardesty, Richmond, 1888
/ref>
On 23 June 1684, Lord Howard sailed from Virginia for Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
with his daughter, Philadelphia, where he and New York Governor Thomas Dongan brokered a July peace treaty with members of the Iroquois Confederacy.[Hatfield, p. 172.] The treaty succeeded in ending a series of raids by the westernmost Seneca nation, whose warriors had traveled south to the frontier of Virginia.[Tyler, pp. 53-54.] Although the Iroquois admitted to breaking the Covenant Chain, Howard and Dongan refrained from demanding reparations in hopes that they would continue attacks against the British rivals in New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
.[Hatfield, p. 205.] While in New York, Howard and his daughter stayed at Dongan's house and spent much of their time socialising.[Hatfield, p. 173.] Lady Howard arrived in Virginia, but died the next year on 13 August 1685 at age 31. Their daughter, Margaret Frances, died while accompanying Lady Howard's body, being transported for return to England.Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
on the way.[Hatfield, p. 206.] Despite his negotiation efforts, Howard was unpopular among Virginians. He ordered that no one in the colony could use a printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...
for any reason and tried to gain the power to overturn laws and levy taxes.court of equity
A court of equity, also known as an equity court or chancery court, is a court authorized to apply principles of Equity (law), equity rather than principles of law to cases brought before it. These courts originated from petitions to the Lord Cha ...
and named himself a petty Lord Chancellor
The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
.[Tyler, pp. 145-146.]
Late life
Howard left Virginia for England on 20 October 1688. He lived mostly in Little Chelsea in Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, then Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
.[Bolton, p. 152.]
Further reading
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References
External links
Selected text pertaining to Indian tribes
from the Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, Vol. I, 11 June 1680 - 22 June 1699.
Biography
at Encyclopedia Virginia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard of Effingham, Francis Howard, 5th Baron
1643 births
1690s deaths
17th-century English nobility
17th-century American politicians
Barons Howard of Effingham
Francis Howard, 5th Baron of Effingham
Colonial governors of Virginia