HOWARD, Charles, Visct. Morpeth (c.1669-1738).

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1689 - 23 Apr. 1692

Family and Education

b. c.1669, 1st s. of Edward Howard†, 2nd Earl of Carlisle, by Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Sir William Uvedale†, treasurer of the chamber, of Wickham, Hants; wid. of Sir William Berkeley, RN; bro. of Hon. William Howard*.  educ. Morpeth g.s.  m. lic. 25 July 1688, Lady Anne (d. 1752), da. of Arthur Capel, 1st Earl of Essex, 2s. 3da.  suc. fa. as 3rd Earl of Carlisle 23 Apr. 1692.1

Offices Held

Merchant Adventurer, 1689.2

Gov. of Carlisle 1693–d.; gent. of bedchamber 24 June 1700–2; dep. earl marshal May 1701–6; PC 19 June 1701–d.; first ld. of Treasury Dec. 1701–May 1702, May–Oct. 1715; commr. for union with Scotland 1706; ld. justice 1714; constable of the Tower 1715–22; gov. and constable, Windsor Castle 1723–30; master of foxhounds and harriers 1730–d.

Ld. lt. Westmld. and Cumb. 1694–d., Tower Hamlets 1717–22; custos rot. Westmld. and Cumb. 1700–14; freeman, Southampton 1697; freeman, Carlisle 1700, alderman, 1700, mayor 1700–1; freeman, Beverley 1703.3

Biography

Heir apparent to substantial estates in Cumberland and Northumberland, Lord Morpeth had been elected to the Convention while still under age. Having been re-elected unopposed in 1690, he was listed in March as a Whig by Lord Carmarthen (Sir Thomas Osborne†), but made little impression in proceedings. In August 1690 the Cabinet granted him leave to travel and he did not return from the Continent until January 1691, though a list among the papers of Robert Harley* and dating from April that year classed him as a Country supporter. He succeeded his father in April 1692. As 3rd Earl of Carlisle he enjoyed considerable political influence in Cumberland, Westmorland and Northumberland, holding the lord lieutenancy of the first two counties and the governorship of Carlisle uninterrupted from 1693 until his death, and in parliamentary elections he exercised his interest in these counties almost exclusively in favour of Whig candidates. He also proved himself a consistent Whig in the Lords (though in 1696 he opposed the attainder of his uncle Sir John Fenwick†), rising to high political office at the end of the reign of William III and accumulating numerous offices following the Hanoverian succession. Macky described him as a ‘gentleman of great interest in the country’ who ‘hath a fine estate and a very good understanding, with a grave deportment’, and his well-developed sense of his own standing was given expression in the building of a handsome new family seat, Castle Howard. It was in the mausoleum there that Carlisle was buried following his death on 1 May 1738.4

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes

  • 1. Hodgson, Northumb. pt. 2, ii. 402; Howard mss at Castle Howard J8/31.
  • 2. Rutland mss at Belvoir Castle, Belvoir letters and pprs. xx.
  • 3. Cumbria RO (Carlisle), Carlisle bor. recs. Ca/2/2, f. 45; Ca/3/1/291; Southampton RO, Southampton bor. recs. SC3/1, f. 248; Beverley Bor. Recs. (Yorks. Arch. Soc. rec. ser. lxxxiv), 192.
  • 4. HMC Finch, iii. 2, 287; Macaulay, Hist. Eng. 2643, 2680, 2682; H. Horwitz, Parl. and Pol. Wm. III, 276, 299; G. Holmes, Pol. in Age of Anne, 426; Macky, Mems. 59; C. Saumarez Smith, Building of Castle Howard, passim.