William Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Effingham (27 December 1577 – 28 November 1615) was an English nobleman, the eldest son of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham (who as Lord Howard of Effingham famously led the English fleet against the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

) and Catherine Carey, Lady of the chamber to Queen Elizabeth who died 25 Feb 1603 at Arundel House, Strand, Middlesex, ENG. As Sir William Howard, he was elected Member of Parliament for

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 ...

in 1597. However, two days before the Parliament met his father was raised to an Earldom. This meant that, as his heir, William acquired the courtesy title Lord Howard of Effingham. It seems that all concerned mistakenly believed that this disqualified him from sitting in the House of Commons, and his younger brother,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, was elected to replace him and sat for Surrey throughout the Parliament. However, the same mistake was not made at the next election and William represented Surrey in the Parliament of 1601. In 1603, he was summoned to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in his father's barony by a writ of acceleration, and sat as a peer until his death. However, he died before his father, without male issue. Both the Earldom and barony were therefore eventually inherited by his younger brother, and William is not considered by some sources to have succeeded as 3rd Baron Howard of Effingham. Howard married Ann St John, daughter of

John St John, 2nd Baron St John of Bletso John St John, 2nd Baron St John of Bletso (died 23 October 1596) was an England, English peerage, peer. The son of Oliver St John, 1st Baron St John of Bletso, and Agnes Fisher, he succeeded to the Baron St John of Bletso, barony upon his father ...

, on 7 February 1597: they had one daughter, Elizabeth (1603–1671), who married John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough. He died in 1615, aged only 37, at Hampton in Middlesex. Ann Howard, Lady Effingham played the part of "Psychrote" in The Masque of Blackness in January 1605.Leeds Barroll, ''Anna of Denmark: A Cultural Biography'' (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 101.

Notes

References

* J E Neale, ''The Elizabethan House of Commons'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949) * * John Debrett, ''Debrett’s Peerage'' (13th edition, London: G Woodfall, 1820

1577 births 1615 deaths Barons Howard of Effingham Heirs apparent who never acceded William Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Effingham 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 {{1601-England-MP-stub