Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle

Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, PC (c. 1669 – 1 May 1738), styled Viscount Morpeth from 1685 to 1692, was a British nobleman, peer, and Whig statesman. He served two brief terms as First Lord of the Treasury and commissioned the construction of Castle Howard.

Early life Charles Howard was the eldest son of Edward Howard, 2nd Earl of Carlisle and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Uvedale. He was educated at Morpeth Grammar School. Howard inherited the family estates and title Earl of Carlisle on the death of his father in 1692. In 1697 he inherited the rump of the estates of his uncle, Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, following his execution.

Political career He was elected as a Member of Parliament for Morpeth in the Convention Parliament in 1689, while still underage, with a London home in Soho Square. He was re-elected unopposed in the 1690 English general election and in a subsequent list of the Commons compiled by Thomas Osborne, Howard was classed as a Whig. In August 1690 he was granted a leave of absence to undertake the Grand Tour. Upon succeeded to his father's title in 1692, he assumed his seat in the House of Lords.

Personal life In 1699 he commissioned a new Baroque mansion, Castle Howard, in Yorkshire, England to the design of Sir John Vanbrugh which is still occupied by his descendants.

He married in 1683 Lady Anne de Vere Capell, daughter of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex. They had six children:

Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle (1693–1758) General Sir Charles Howard (c. 1696–1765) Lady Harriet Howard, died young Lady Elizabeth Anne Howard, married Nicholas Lechmere, 1st Baron Lechmere, then Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Baronet Lady Anne Howard, married Rich Ingram, 5th Viscount of Irvine, then Brig-Gen. William Douglas of Kirkness (d. 1747) Lady Mary Howard, unmarried

He died in Bath in 1738 and is buried in The Mausoleum, Castle Howard.