Ralph Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow

Ralph Francis Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow (24 December 1877 – 11 October 1946) was an Irish aristocrat and politician.

Early life Howard was the son of Cecil Howard, 6th Earl of Wicklow and Francesca Maria Chamberlayne.

His paternal grandparents were the Rev. Hon. Francis Howard, Vicar of Swords, County Dublin (the son of the 3rd Earl of Wicklow), and his second wife Sarah Hamilton. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Chamberlayne and Amelia Onslow (a daughter of Gen. Denzil Onslow).

Career He succeeded as Earl of Wicklow on the death of his father in 1891.

Lord Wicklow was commissioned a second-lieutenant in the 2nd Life Guards on 16 February 1898, promoted to lieutenant on 26 April 1899, and saw active service in South Africa from 1899 to 1900 during the Second Boer War. A squadron from the 2nd Life Guards was attached to the Household Cavalry Regiment during the war, and Lord Wicklow served as Brigade Signalling Officer, and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps. After his return to the United Kingdom, he was promoted to captain on 3 September 1902.

In 1922, he was nominated by W. T. Cosgrave to the Seanad Éireann of the Irish Free State on its formation. He served for six years until he was defeated at the 1928 Seanad election.

Personal life

On 14 January 1902 at St. Mark's Church, North Audley Street, London, Lord Wicklow was married to Lady Gladys Mary Hamilton (1880–1917), a daughter of James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn and Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe. As the couple were both prominent and visible members of Anglo-Irish society, the bride received valuable presents from several public bodies in Ireland, and the ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Armagh (Primate of All Ireland). Before her death in 1917, they were the parents of one son:

Late in Lord Wicklow's life he remarried, in 1942, to Lady Beatrix Francis Gertrude ( Herbert) Wilkinson (1878–1957). The daughter of Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke and Lady Beatrix Louisa Lambton (the eldest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Durham), she was the widow of Maj. Sir Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson, who had died in 1940. His widow died on 3 December 1957. Upon his son's death, without issue, in 1978, the earldom passed to the 7th Earl's nephew, Cecil Aymar Howard. When the 8th Earl died in 1983, the title became extinct.