Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Howard, Henry (1628-1684)
HOWARD, HENRY, sixth Duke of Norfolk (1628–1684), born on 12 July 1628, was the second son of Henry Frederick Howard, second earl of Arundel [q. v.], by Lady Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of Esme, third duke of Lennox (Doyle, Official Baronage, ii. 597-8). Before the Restoration he passed much time abroad. In October 1645 he journeyed from Venice to visit John Evelyn (1620-1706) [q.v.] at Padua. He again went abroad in company with his elder brother, Thomas, in January 1652 and August 1653 (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1651-2 p. 548, 1653-4 p. 434). By 10 Aug. 1655 he was settled at his villa at Albury, Surrey, where Evelyn visited him and admired his pictures and curiosities. According to Evelyn, Howard was mainly instrumental in persuading the king to restore the dukedom of Norfolk, 29 Dec. 1660, which fell to his brother Thomas (1627-1677), and, jealous of the family honour, he compounded a debt of 200,000l. contracted by his grandfather, Thomas, earl of Arundel (1586-1646) [q.v.] (Evelyn, Diary, 19 June 1662). As Lord Henry Howard he became a member of Lincoln's Inn on 4 Nov. 1661, and was high steward of Guildford, Surrey, from 1663 to 1673. On 21 Feb. 1663-4 he left London with his brother Edward to visit his friend Walter, count Leslie, whom the emperor Leopold I had lately nominated his ambassador extraordinary to Constantinople. At Vienna he was introduced by Leslie to the emperor, and was liberally entertained (cf. A Relation of a Journey of … Lord Henry Howard, &c., London, 1671; Collins, Peerage, ed. Brydges, i. 133-5).
He returned to England in 1665, and on 28 Nov. 1666 became F.R.S. After the fire of London Howard granted the Royal Society the use of rooms at Arundel House in the Strand, and, on 2 Jan. 1667, at Evelyn's suggestion presented it with the greater part of his splendid library, which he had much neglected. A portion of the manuscripts was given to the College of Arms, of which a catalogue was compiled by Sir C. G. Young in 1829. The Royal Society sold their share of the Arundel manuscripts (excepting the Hebrew and Oriental) to the trustees of the British Museum in 1830 for the sum of 3,559l., which was devoted to the purchase of scientific books. In 1668, when it was proposed to build a college for the society's meetings, Howard, who was on the committee, gave a piece of ground in the garden of Arundel House for a site, and drew designs for the building (Weld, Hist, of Roy. Soc.) During September 1667 Evelyn persuaded Howard to give the Arundelian marbles, which were lying neglected in the same garden, to the university of Oxford. The university made him a D.C.L. on 5 June 1668, at the same time conferring on his two sons, Henry and Thomas, of Magdalen College, the degree of M.A. Howard was raised to the peerage, with the title of Baron Howard of Castle Rising in Norfolk, on 27 March 1669, and in the following April went as ambassador extraordinary to Morocco. On the death of his first wife, Lady Anne Somerset, elder daughter of Edward, second marquis of Worcester, in 1662, he is said to have fallen into a deep melancholy, which was increased by the loss of his friend Sir Samuel Tuke on 25 Jan. 1671. He sought relief in a course of dissipation, which impaired both his fortune and reputation. On 19 Oct. 1677 he was advanced to be earl of Norwich, earl-marshal, and hereditary earl-marshal, and on 1 Dec. following he succeeded his brother Thomas as sixth duke of Norfolk. In 1678 he married his mistress, Jane, daughter of Robert Bickerton, gentleman of the wine cellar to Charles II. He died at Arundel House on 11 Jan. 1684, and was buried at Arundel, Sussex. By his first wife he had two sons, Henry, seventh duke [q. v.], and Thomas, and three daughters. By his second wife, who died on 28 Aug. 1693, he had four sons and three daughters. Though good-natured he was a man of small capacity and rough manners. ‘A Relation of a Journey of ... Lord Henry Howard from London to Vienna, and thence to Constantinople,’ was published under Howard's name, 12mo, London, 1671 . There is a picture of him by Mary Beale in the National Portrait Gallery, and It has been engraved.
[Evelyn's Diary; Hamilton's Memoirs of Count de Grammont ; Granger's Biog. Hist. of England (6th edit.), iii. 186.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.161
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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| 32 | ii | 14 | Howard, Henry, 6th Duke of Norfolk: for second earl read third earl |
| 33 | i | 31 | for In 1678 read Before 1678 |