s manor there, for his life. Robert Howard, Knt. their eldest son, married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, whose son John was the first Duke of this family; Sir John did not die in 1400, as Mr. Weaver hath it, (fol. 772,) for the Escheat Roll in 1432 tells us, that Sir John Howard, Knt. then held Fersfield of John Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, of his manor of Forncet, at two fees and an half; and in 1435, he made his will, in which he gave Fersfield, Garboldisham, &c. to his grandaughter Elizabeth, then Countess of Oxford, and her issue, remainder to Robert, his son, by his second wife, and his heirs; and for want of such, remainder to Henry, his second son, and his heirs; this was dated Apr. 1: he died in 1437, in which year his will was proved, (this is confirmed by the Escheat Roll 16 H. 6. No 56.) In 1416 he had levied a fine of this town and Brokes, to Sir Walter Clopton, and William Clopton, Esq. in order to settle them upon himself, and Alice his second wife; and to make it effectual, John Howard, Esq. his son and heir by his first wife, in 1408 released to Sir John his father, and Alice, his second wife, and their heirs, all their right in them, they being formerly settled on Robert Scales, and other trustees, in tail, for his use after his father's death; so that by this release, the fee was wholly in his father, who did not settle it as was designed, and therefore he was impowered to give it by will, as he did, to his grandaughter. All the pedigrees, that I have seen, say he died in 1400, grounding their errour on the aforecited place of Mr. Weaver; but if we consult that author, page 773, where there is a draught of the monument of this Sir John, and Alice his second wife, we shall find that the mistake was not in the author, for there the inscription is exhibited with an imperfect date, viz.
"Orate pro animabus Johannis Howard Militis, qui objit, Anno 14--Et Allicie uxoris ejus que objit in festo Sancti Luce Evangeliste, 1426. Quorum animabus propicietur Deus."
So that in page 772, where he is said to die in 1400, is an errour of the press only, which all having followed in the pedigrees, without any further examination of their author, is the cause that we meet with so many mistakes in relation to this Sir John Howard, that we now treat of, and John Howard, Esq. his son and heir, by his first wife, who, according to the pedigrees, married Joan, daughter and heiress of Richard Walton, Knt. (though in a fine levied anno 11 Henry IV. she is said to be his sister and heiress,) he died in 1410, before his father, as his will, proved October 26, in that year, evidently shews, in which his father and the Countess of Hertford were executors. His wife Joan, after his death, married Sir Thomas Erpyngham, Knt. with whom she lived till 1424, and then left Elizabeth, her only child, 14 years old, her sole heiress.
