Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Howard, Henry (1655-1701)
HOWARD, HENRY, seventh Duke of Norfolk (1655–1701), born on 11 Jan. 1655, was the son of Henry, sixth duke of Norfolk (1628-1684) [q. v.], by his first wife, Lady Anne Somerset, elder daughter of Edward, second marquis of Worcester (Doyle, Official Baronage, ii. 598-9). He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was created M.A. on 5 June 1668. From 1678 until 1684 he was styled Earl of Arundel, but he was summoned to parliament as Baron Mowbray on 27 Jan. 1679. On the death of Prince Rupert he was constituted constable of Windsor Castle and warden of the forest and parks, 16 Dec. 1682, and became on the same day lord-lieutenant of Berkshire and Surrey. He was chosen high steward of Windsor on 17 Jan. 1683, lord-lieutenant of Norfolk on 5 April in the same year, and succeeded his father as seventh duke of Norfolk on 11 Jan. 1684. The university of Oxford created him a D.C.L. on 1 Sept. 1684. On the accession of James II he signed the order, dated at Whitehall on 6 Feb. 1685, for proclaiming him king, and was made K.G. on 6 May following. He was appointed colonel of a regiment of foot on 20 June 1685, but resigned his command in June 1686. One day James gave the duke (a staunch protestant) the sword of state to carry before him to the popish chapel, but he stopped at the door, upon which the king said to him, ‘My lord, your father would have gone further;’ to which the duke answered, ‘Your majesty s father was the better man, and he would not have gone so far’ (Burnet, Own Time, Oxf. ed., i. 684). In 1687 the duke undertook to act as James's agent in Surrey and Norfolk, for the purpose of obtaining information as to the popular view of the Declaration of Indulgence. On 24 March 1688 he went to France, but returning home by way of Flanders on 30 July joined in the invitation to the Prince of Orange. In November following he was among the protestant lords in London who petitioned James II to call a parliament ‘regular and free in all respects.’ The petition was presented on 17 Nov., and the same day the king, after promising to summon such a parliament, left for Salisbury to put himself at the head of his army. Thereupon the duke, attended by three hundred gentlemen armed and mounted, went to the market-place of Norwich, and was there met by the mayor and aldermen, who engaged to stand by him against popery and arbitrary power. He soon brought over the eastern counties to the interest of the Prince of Orange, and raised a regiment, which was afterwards employed in the reduction of Ireland. Howard accompanied William to St. James's Palace on 18 Dec., and on the 21st was among the lords who appealed to him to call a free parliament. He voted for the settlement of the crown on the Prince and Princess of Orange, who were proclaimed on 13 Feb. 1689, and the next day was sworn of their privy council. He was also continued constable of Windsor Castle, and became colonel of a regiment of foot (16 March 1689), lord-lieutenant of Norfolk, Surrey, and Berkshire (6 May 1689), acting captain-general of the Honourable Artillery Company of London (3 June to September 1690), a commissioner of Greenwich Hospital (20 Feb. 1695), colonel in the Berkshire, Norwich, Norfolk, Surrey, and Southwark regiments of militia (1697), and during that year captain of the first troop of Surrey horse militia. On 18 Jan. 1691 he attended William III to Holland.
Norfolk died without issue at Norfolk House, St. James's Square, on 2 April 1701, and was buried on the 8th at Arundel, Sussex. His immediate successors in the title were his nephews, Thomas, eighth duke (1683–1732), and Edward, ninth duke (1680–1777). On 8 Aug. 1677 he married Lady Mary Mordaunt, daughter and heiress of Henry, second earl of Peterborough, but, owing to her gallantries with Sir John Germain [q. v.] and others, he separated from her in 1685. He did not succeed in divorcing her until 11 April 1700, in consequence of the opposition of her first cousin, Lord Monmouth (afterwards Earl of Peterborough). The duchess assisted Lord Monmouth in his intrigue with Sir John Fenwick [q. v.], and afterwards confessed to it (1697). Monmouth, in the House of Lords, violently denied the truth of her story. Her husband thereupon rose, and said, with sour pleasantry, that he gave entire faith to what she had deposed. ‘My lord thought her good enough to be wife to me; and, if she is good enough to be wife to me, I am sure that she is good enough to be a witness against him.’
[Collins's Peerage (Brydges),i. 136-8; Burnet's Own Time (Oxf.ed.); Evelyn's Diary; Luttrell's Historical Relation of State Affairs, 1857; Macaulay's Hist. of England; see art. Germain, Sir John.]