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- BIOGRAPHY
Henry Howard was born 12 July 1628 in London, the son of Henry Frederick Howard, earl of Arundel, Surrey and Norfolk, and Lady Elizabeth Stuart.
During the Commonwealth he lived quietly at his grandfather's villa at Albury in Surrey which he had improved and embellished. On 17 April 1652 his father died and, due to the mental state of his elder brother, he managed the family affairs and his great achievement was the payment of his grandfather's enormous debts, compounded to £200,000, in the ten years following his father's death.
Before 21 October 1652 he married Lady Anne Somerset, daughter of Edward Somerset, 2nd marquess of Worcester, and Elizabeth Dormer. Henry and Anne became the parents of five children.
Within months of the return of Charles II, he was successful when he petitioned for the restoration of the dukedom of Norfolk. One of the weaknesses of Henry Howard was an impulsive generosity; he allowed many to take from his print collection and the library.
He was one of the most travelled among his peers, spending much time in the Low Countries and Italy but also went to Coromandel on the east coast of India. Easter 1644 he spent in Vienna where he waited on the Emperor several times. The melancholy which would eventually poison his life had made its appearance as early as 1662 after the death of Anne, his first wife. In 1664 and 1665 he accompanied Count Leslie, chief minister to the Emperor, on his special embassy to Sultan Mahomet IV which secured a truce for twenty years between East and West. Howard then returned to London.
In 1669, as he had no title of his own, he was created Lord Howard of Castle Rising and appointed Ambassador-Extraordinary from Charles II to Taffaletta 'Emperor' of Morocco to try to establish trading relations between England and Morocco. On 22 July 1669 he embarked but, on arrival in Morocco, found Taffaletta had disappeared with his army on a military expedition to the south. After waiting in Tangier for the best part of a year he had no option but to return to England with nothing achieved.
In 1672 he was created Earl of Norwich and, in 1674, Papists were forbidden to come to Court. Henry and his two sons were proceeded against for recusancy but were able to claim the protection of Parliamentary privilege. In December 1677 his elder brother died and, after waiting seventeen years, Henry became Duke of Norfolk, taking his seat as such in the House of Lords on 15 January 1678.
He then publicly announced his marriage to Jane Bickerton, who had been his mistress before their secret marriage, which took place before 23 January 1678. Jane, daughter of Robert Bickerton and Anne Hester, was regarded as a lady of beauty and accomplishments but not his equal. Henry and Jane were the parents of seven children.
As Duke of Norfolk he was in Parliament for only ten months because the Act of 30 November 1678 disallowed Papists. Together with his Duchess and young family, he withdrew disappointed to the continent where he remained for the next three years. Fearing the worst he vested all his estates in the hands of Anglican trustees so that they would not be confiscated, and this arrangement lasted for the rest of his life and that of his son.
After the excesses of the 'Popish Plot' which caused the execution of his uncle, Viscount Stafford, he returned to England in 1682. He died on 13 January 1684 in London and was buried at Arundel.
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