View source for William Howard (judge)

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
[[File:Sir William Howard (died 1308) EastWinch Church Norfolk Drawn by HenryLilly 1637.png|thumb|Sir William Howard in judge's robes. 1637 drawing by Henry Lilly, [[Rouge Dragon Pursuivant]], of stained glass portrait formerly in East Winch Church]]
[[File:Stained glass in Holy Trinity, Long Melford (2).jpg|thumb|Stained glass (c.1485/1509<ref>"In or about the reign of Henry VII a figure of him kneeling in his robes with the legend 'Pray for the soul of William Howard, chief justice of England,' was inserted in one of the stained-glass windows in the church of Long Melford, Suffolk" (Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 28, Howard, William (d.1308), by James McMullen Rigg [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Howard,_William_(d.1308)_(DNB00)])</ref>) in [[Long Melford]] Church in [[Suffolk]], showing William Howard (d.1308) at far left, dressed in the robes of a judge, with his arms above, with two other later judges (Richard Pigot (d.1483) Judge & [[Serjeant-at-law|Sergeant-at-Law]] to King [[Edward IV]]; John Haugh (d.1489))]]
[[File:Howard arms (original).svg|thumb|Arms of Sir William Howard (Howard unaugmented): ''Gules, a bend between six cross-crosslets fitchy argent'']] 
'''Sir William Howard''' (by 1225 – 1308) of [[East Winch]]<ref>Robinson, John Martin, ''The Dukes of Norfolk, a Quincentennial History'', Oxford, 1982, p.1</ref> and [[Wiggenhall St Germans|Wiggenhall]] in [[Norfolk]], England, was a lawyer who became a Justice of the [[Court of Common Pleas (England)|Court of Common Pleas]].<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|id=13945|first=Paul|last=Brand|title=Howard, Sir William}}</ref> He is the founder<ref name="Robinson, p.1">Robinson, p.1</ref> and earliest confirmed male-line ancestor of the [[House of Howard]] ([[Duke of Norfolk|Dukes of Norfolk]]), as is firmly established by  historical research.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Head |first1=David M. |title=The Ebbs and Flows of Fortune: The Life of Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk |date=1995 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=9780820316833 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Zf-2NMMIvkC&pg=PA12 |language=en}}</ref>

==Origins==
A pedigree compiled and signed by Sir [[William Dugdale]], [[Norroy King of Arms]] of the [[College of Arms]], and dated 8 April 1665, stated that a William Howard de Howard (born 1237) was the second son of Robert Howarth of Howarth, son of William, who was himself the son of Peter de Howard of Great Howarth, [[Lancashire]]. Dugdale states that William Howard de Howard was the progenitor of the subsequently noble [[Howard family]]. William Howard was knighted in c. 1278 and that he was appointed (Chief) [[Justice of the Common Pleas]] in 1297. He married firstly Alice de Ufford, the daughter of the [[Justiciar]] and [[Suffolk]] landowner Sir Robert de Ufford. If Dugdale was correct a young William Howard left [[Lancashire]] to settle in [[Norfolk]] and practise as a lawyer perhaps at the behest of his father-in-law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924024699286/page/n81/mode/2up|title=Dugdale's 1665 Pedigree of the Howarths of Great Howarth on Page 64 of The history of the county palatine and duchy of Lancaster by Baines, Edward, 1774-1848|access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref>

Alternatively his father may have been from the town of [[Lynn, Norfolk|Lynn]] in [[Norfolk]],<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Howard, William (d.1308)|volume=28}}</ref><ref>The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' identifies [[Wiggenhall (disambiguation)|Wiggenhall]] as Howard's probable birthplace - which is unlikely as it came to him by marriage</ref> where he may have been a merchant.<ref name="Robinson, p.1"/>

==Career==
He is first recorded in surviving records in 1277, when he purchased land within the parish of East Winch in Norfolk,<ref name="Robinson, p.1"/> which became his main seat. As he was acting as an attorney for Norfolk clients by the later 1270s, the purchase was presumably made from his earnings as a lawyer.<ref name="Robinson, p.1"/> Howard was a [[serjeant-at-law]] in the mid-1280s and acted in the [[eyre (legal term)|eyre]] courts. From 1285 he served as counsel to the Mayor and Corporation of the flourishing port town of [[King's Lynn|Lynn]] in Norfolk.<ref name="Robinson, p.1"/> He was a [[Assize|Justice of Assize]] from 1293, and a Justice of the [[Court of Common Pleas (England)|Court of Common Pleas]] from 1297 until 1307. He is depicted in a surviving stained glass window, circa 1500, in [[Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford|Long Melford Church]] in [[Suffolk]], dressed in the robes of a judge. Despite 15th century claims by the [[Howard family]]<ref>Robinson, p.2, supports the assertion that he was Chief Justice</ref> that he became Chief [[Justice of the Common Pleas|Justice of the Court of Common Pleas]], there is no surviving evidence to support that assertion.

In 1298 he purchased the manor house at [[East Winch]] from the Grancourt family, and steadily increased his landholding in the parish.<ref name="Robinson, p.2">Robinson, p.2</ref> Howard attended Parliament in 1302 as a Justice,<ref name="Robinson, p.2"/> and was on a [[trailbaston]] circuit in 1307. He died at some time before by 24 August 1308, when his replacement as a [[Assizes|Justice of Assize]] is recorded, and was buried in the Church of [[East Winch]].<ref name="ODNB"/>

==Marriages and issue==
Howard married twice:<ref name="Robinson, p.2"/>
*Firstly to Alice de Ufford, a daughter of Sir Robert de Ufford,<ref>Possibly Sir Robert de Ufford (d.1298) of Ufford in Suffolk, who married firstly Mary, widow of William de Say, and who was the father of [[Robert Ufford, 1st Baron Ufford]] (1279–1316). Sir [[John Howard (died 1437)|John Howard]] (c. 1366-1437), of Wiggenhall and East Winch Norfolk (the grandfather of [[John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk]]), was the son and heir of Sir Robert Howard (died 1389), of Wiggenhall and East Winch, by his wife Margaret Scales (died 1416), daughter of [[Robert de Scales, 3rd Baron Scales]], by his wife Katherine d'Ufford, a daughter of [[Robert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk|w:Robert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk]] and a sister and co-heiress of [[William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk|w:William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk]]. The title [[Earl of Suffolk]] was later granted to a cadet branch of the Howard family, namely Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (1561–1626), the second son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk</ref> by whom he had issue:
:*Sir John Howard I (d.1311/33<ref name="Robinson, p.2"/>), of [[East Winch]], eldest son and heir,<ref name="ODNB"/> [[Sheriff of Norfolk]], [[Sheriff of Suffolk]] and Governor of the City of [[Norwich]] in [[Norfolk]],<ref>Robinson, p.2 (where he is incorrectly given as the son of Alice Fitton, corrected in the pedigree on Table I); ONDB gives him as the son of Alice de Ufford)</ref> and a [[Lords and Gentlemen of the Bedchamber|Gentleman of the Bedchamber]] to King [[Edward I of England|Edward I]].<ref name="Robinson, p.2"/> He married Joan de Cornwall, sister and heiress of Richard de Cornwall<ref>Robinson, Table I</ref> and an illegitimate descendant of [[Richard, Earl of Cornwall]], the second son of King [[John, King of England|John]].<ref name="Robinson, p.2"/> The son and heir of Sir John Howard I was:
::*Sir John Howard II (d. post 1388), who was brought up in the king's household<ref name="Robinson, p.2"/> and served as [[Admiral of the North|Admiral of the Northern Fleet]]. He married Alice de Boys, the daughter and eventual heiress of Sir Robert de Boys, of [[Fersfield]] in [[Norfolk]]. They were the great-great-grandparents of [[John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk]]. His son and heir was:
:::*Sir Robert Howard (d.1388) (predeceased his father) of [[Wiggenhall St Germans|Wiggenhall]] and [[East Winch]], who married Margaret Scales (died 1416), daughter of [[Robert de Scales, 3rd Baron Scales]], by his wife Katherine d'Ufford, a daughter of [[Robert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk]] and a sister and co-heiress of [[William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk]]. His son was:
::::*Sir [[John Howard (died 1437)|John Howard III]] (c. 1366-1437), of [[Wiggenhall St Germans|Wiggenhall]] and [[East Winch]], the grandfather of [[John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk]]. 
*Secondly to Alice Fitton, the daughter and heiress of Sir Edmund Fitton of [[Fitton Hill|Fitton Hall]] in the parish of [[Wiggenhall St Germans|Wiggenhall]], [[Norfolk]], which manor he inherited by the marriage. Only the moat of [[Fitton Hill|Fitton Hall]] survives today. Without issue<ref>Robinson, p.2; Table I</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, William, Sir}}
[[Category:1308 deaths]]
[[Category:Howard family (English aristocracy)|William]]
[[Category:13th-century English judges]]
[[Category:14th-century English judges]]
[[Category:People from King's Lynn]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]