Thomas Howard

Lieutenant-General Thomas Howard (1684 – 31 March 1753) was an officer of the British Army and the ancestor of the family of the present Earls of Effingham.

Biography

Background He was the only surviving son of George Howard of Great Bookham, by his wife Ann, daughter of Thomas Kidder, of Lewes. George Howard was a younger son of Sir Charles Howard of Eastwick and a great-great-grandson of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham through his second son Sir William Howard of Lingfield; George's elder brother Francis had succeeded as fifth Baron Howard of Effingham in 1681. Thomas Howard was baptised at Great Bookham on 13 August 1684. His father died on 13 December the same year and his mother on 16 September 1704;

Military career Howard joined the Army as an ensign on 4 February 1703. During the War of the Spanish Succession he served in the Netherlands and Germany under the Duke of Marlborough, and in 1707 was present as a captain in Wade's Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Almanza, where he was taken prisoner. He was a prisoner of war in France for two years, but was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the 24th Regiment of Foot in 1708 On 15 November 1711 he was granted brevet rank as a colonel of Foot. Howard was dismissed for his political opinions, but was reinstated by King George I, On 1 February 1743 he was promoted to lieutenant-general, and served under George II that year at the Battle of Dettingen.

Marriage and descendants On 28 February 1717, at St Bridget's, Dublin, Howard was married to Mary, the youngest daughter of William Moreton, bishop of Meath by his second wife Mary. Thomas Howard lived at 8 Savile Street (now Savile Row) from 1735, and died there on 31 March 1753. His will was dated 14 November 1752 and was proved on 11 April 1753: in it he left the house in Savile Street and his property at Tettenhall Regis to his wife, and the rest of his estate to his eldest son George. His widow Mary Howard died on 5 February 1782.