Charles Howard, 9th Earl of Suffolk
| Charles Howard, 9th Earl of Suffolk | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Carlow | |
| In office 1703 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1675 |
| Died | 28 September 1733 (aged 47–48) |
| Spouse | Henrietta Hobart (m. 1706) |
| Children | Henry Howard |
| Parent | Henry Howard (father) |
| Relatives | Edward Howard (brother) Theophilus Howard (grandfather) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | England |
| Branch | British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Unit | Echlin's Regiment of Dragoons Coldstream Guards |
Charles Howard, 9th Earl of Suffolk (1675 – 28 September 1733) was an English nobleman and politician, styled Hon. Charles Howard from 1691 to 1731.
Biography
The third son of Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk,[1] he was commissioned a captain in Echlin's Regiment of Dragoons on 27 February 1703. During that year, he sat for a few months as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Carlow in the Irish House of Commons.
On 2 March 1706, he married Henrietta, who was the daughter of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet[2] and had been placed with the Suffolk family on her father's death. Their one son, Henry, was born in 1710.
The marriage was not a happy one; Charles was a drunken and abusive husband, and neither was possessed of any great means. Charles and Henrietta travelled to Hanover to seek favour with the Prince-Elector George, who seemed likely to succeed to the English throne. They were, indeed successful in securing posts at his accession as George I in 1714; Charles as Groom of the Bedchamber to the King, and Henrietta as a Woman of the Bedchamber to Caroline, Princess of Wales. However, this brought Henrietta into the company of the Prince of Wales, whose mistress she became.[3] Charles was by no means complacent about these arrangements, and, according to Horace Walpole, his acquiescence had eventually to be bought with a pension of £1,200 p.a. He also received an appointment as Deputy Lieutenant of Essex in 1718 and a commission as captain and lieutenant-colonel in the Coldstream Guards in 1719. He was not reappointed as a Groom of the Bedchamber after the death of George I in 1727; he had formally separated from his wife shortly before the end of the reign.
In 1731, he succeeded his brother Edward as Earl of Suffolk, and as Henrietta was now formally a Countess, she was appointed Mistress of the Robes. Suffolk died in 1733 and was succeeded by his son Henry.[1]
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Burke, John (1832). A General and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British Empire. London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley. p. 507.
- Back to citation Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1914. p. 231.
- Back to citation Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1914. p. 326.