Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe
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Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (11 December 1796 – 12 May 1870), was a British peer and courtier.


Background

He was the third but eldest surviving son of the Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon (the eldest son of Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon, and his wife Esther Hanmer), and his wife
Sophia Howe Sophia Charlotte Waller, 2nd Baroness Howe (''née'' Howe; 19 February 1762 – 3 December 1835), was a British noblewoman who became Baroness Howe after the death of her father Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, and the extinction of the title Earl Howe ...
, ''
suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...
'' Baroness Howe (the eldest daughter of
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving in the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations agai ...
(of the first creation), and his wife Mary née Hartop).


Public life

As his father predeceased his own father, Curzon inherited his grandfather's viscountcy in 1820. He took the additional name of Howe by royal licence a year later and was created
Earl Howe Earl Howe is a title that has been created twice in British history, for members of the Howe and Curzon-Howe family respectively. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was in 1788 for Richard Howe, 4th Viscount Howe, but it ...
(a revival of the title previously held by his maternal grandfather) that year. From 1829 to 1830, he was a
Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the Royal Household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household, the term being fir ...
to King
George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...
, appointed a GCH in 1830 and was
Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...
to
Queen Adelaide Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline; 13 August 1792 – 2 December 1849) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 26 June 1830 to 20 June 1837 as the wife of King W ...
from 1830 to 1831 and again from 1834 to 1837. On his mother's death in 1835, he inherited her barony. His office gave him considerable influence over the Queen and through her King
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
, both of whom liked and admired him. Malicious gossip that he was the Queen's lover was not taken seriously even at the time, and is entirely discounted by historians. It was his position as an extreme Tory, and his strong opposition to the
Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...
which made him unacceptable to the Government, and Lord Grey eventually insisted on his dismissal, much to the Queen's distress. Subsequent negotiations to reinstate him came to nothing.Ziegler, Phillip. ''William IV'', Cassel Biographies 1971, pp. 197–201. William IV's biographer described him as a man whose vanity and arrogance should have made him insufferable, yet who clearly possessed personal charm great enough to make those who knew him overlook his faults.


Family

Lord Howe married Lady Harriet Georgiana Brudenell, second daughter of Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan, on 19 March 1820. They had ten children: * George Augustus Frederick Louis Curzon-Howe, 2nd Earl Howe (1821–1876). * Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 3rd Earl Howe (1822–1900), ancestor of subsequent earls. *Hon. Frederick Curzon-Howe (1823–1881). Died unmarried. *Hon. Henry Dugdale Curzon-Howe (1824–1910), married Eleanor Young Swinburne (died 28 August 1887), daughter of Maj.-Gen. John Swinburne of Keynsham, Somerset, on 22 October 1857. They had six children. *Lady Georgiana Charlotte Curzon-Howe (1825–1906), married Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort. *Maj. Hon. William Henry Curzon-Howe (1827–1914), married first Beatrice Louisa Margaret Page (died 10 July 1873) on 26 October 1870. He later married Emily Cowper, daughter of Frederick Cowper JP for Cumberland, on 3 November 1874. They had one daughter. *Hon. Ernest George Curzon-Howe (1828–1885), married Augusta Latham Hallifax (circa 1835 – 24 December 1917), daughter of Brig. Gen. Robert Dampier Hallifax and granddaughter of Samuel Hallifax, Bishop of Gloucester and St. Asaph. They had six children. * Hon. Leicester Smyth (1829–1891). *Lady Adelaide Curzon-Howe (1835–1903), married Francis Fane, 12th Earl of Westmorland. * Lady Emily Mary Curzon-Howe (1836–1910), married Sir Robert Kingscote. She was a Lady of the Bedchamber to
Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...
. Howe's first wife died in 1836, and on 9 October 1845, he married Anne Gore (died 1877), second daughter of Admiral Sir John Gore. They had three children: * Hon. Montagu Curzon (21 September 1846 – 1 September 1907), married on 19 October 1886 to Esmé FitzRoy (1859 – 25 May 1939, daughter of Francis Horatio FitzRoy (1823–1900) and wife Gertrude Duncombe (born 1827)), whose daughter Mary married her cousin the 5th Earl Howe and was mother of the 6th Earl Howe. * Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe (1848–1929), married the 2nd Duke of Abercorn; ancestors of subsequent dukes. * Admiral Sir Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe (1850–1911)


References


External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl 1796 births 1870 deaths 1 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen