Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk, 5th Earl of Berkshire, KG, PC (16 May 1739 – 7 March 1779), was a British politician, styled Viscount Andover from 1756 to 1757. He was the son of

William Howard, Viscount Andover William Howard, Viscount Andover (23 December 1714 – 15 July 1756), of Elford Hall, Staffordshire, was a British Tory politician from the Howard family who sat in the House of Commons from 1737 to 1747. He was the eldest son and heir of the ...

(son of

Henry Howard, 11th Earl of Suffolk Henry Bowes Howard, 11th Earl of Suffolk, 4th Earl of Berkshire (4 November 1687 – 21 March 1757) was an English peer from the Howard family. He was the son of Craven Howard and his second wife, Mary Bowes, and baptised three days after birth ...

) and Lady Mary Finch, daughter of Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Aylesford. Educated at Eton and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, he succeeded his grandfather as

Earl of Suffolk Earl of Suffolk is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, in tandem with the creation of the title of Earl of Norfolk, came before 1069 in favour of Ralph the Staller; but the title was forfei ...

in 1757. He was awarded a MA degree from Oxford in 1759 and a DCL degree in 1761. He was High Steward of Malmesbury from 1763 to 1767, and Deputy

Earl Marshal Earl Marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the U ...

from 1763 to 1765. On 25 May 1764, he married Hon. Maria Constantia Hampden-Trevor, daughter of

Robert Hampden-Trevor, 1st Viscount Hampden Robert Hampden-Trevor, 1st Viscount Hampden (17 February 1706 – 22 August 1783) was a British diplomat at The Hague and then joint Postmaster General. Origins He was the eldest son of the second marriage of his father Thomas Trevor, 1st Baro ...

, who died on 7 February 1767 giving birth to their only child: *Maria Constantia Howard (7 February 1767 – 21 July 1775) In 1771, he was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

(PC) and briefly served as

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

before becoming

Secretary of State for the Northern Department The secretary of state for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet (government), Cabinet of the government of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain up to 1782. Following this, the Northern Department became the Foreign Office, a ...

under

Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the ...

from 1771 to 1779. In this capacity, he secured the use of Hessian and

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

ian mercenaries to help suppress the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. In the same capacity he helped to secure the survival of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

as an independent nation by counteracting

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

's plan to undo the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

of Gustavus III in 1772. He was made a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

(KG) in 1778. On 14 August 1777, Suffolk married his first cousin Lady Charlotte Finch, daughter of

Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford (6 November 1715 – 9 May 1777), styled Lord Guernsey between 1719 and 1757, was a British peer and politician. Background and education Finch was the son and heir of Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Aylesfor ...

and Lady Charlotte Seymour, by whom he had two children: *George Howard, Viscount Andover (September 1778 – 27 December 1778) * Henry Howard, 13th Earl of Suffolk (8 August 1779 – 10 August 1779) He died on 7 March 1779; his posthumous son Henry succeeded him for two days in August. He is buried in Charlton Church, Wiltshire, together with his first wife.

References

*''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Howard, Henry, twelfth earl of Suffolk and fifth earl of Berkshire (1739–1779), politician, by Peter D. G. Thomas 1739 births 1779 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Secretaries of state for the Northern Department Lords Privy Seal

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk Knights of the Garter People educated at Eton College Leaders of the House of Lords {{England-earl-stub