thumb|243px|Coat of arms of Sir Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, KG. The crescent in the family coat of arms is because he was the second son

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626), of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife Margaret Audley, the daughter and eventual sole heiress of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, of Audley End.

Early life and marriages

Thomas was born at Audley End on 24 August 1561, the second of four children Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, had by his second wife, Margaret Audley. His older sister was Elizabeth Howard, who died in infancy, and his younger siblings were Margaret and William. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, and his second wife Elizabeth Grey. His paternal grandparents were Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and his wife Frances de Vere. On her father's side, Thomas had an older half-brother, Philip Howard, who would later become Earl of Arundel who in turn was also a second cousin of Thomas (Philip's mother, Mary FitzAlan and Margaret Audley were first cousins).

When his mother died in January 1564, Thomas inherited the manor of Saffron Walden and other Audley family properties.

Thomas's father, a Roman Catholic with a Protestant education, was arrested in 1569 for being involved in intrigues against Queen Elizabeth, mainly due to the Duke's intention to marry Mary I Stewart, Queen of Scots. Although he was released in August 1570, a few months later he became involved in the Ridolfi plot to overthrow Elizabeth, install Mary on the English throne and restore Catholicism, and was arrested again in September 1571, when his participation in the plot was discovered. Norfolk was tried for high treason and sentenced to death in January 1572. He was executed in June of that same year, when Thomas was almost eleven years old. After his father's death, Thomas and his siblings Philip, William and Margaret were left in the care of their uncle Henry Howard, who also took charge of their education. During this time, Thomas and his siblings lived with their uncle at Audley End. Due to his father's execution, much of his paternal family's property was forfeit, although Thomas, his younger siblings, and his older half-brother Philip were able to recover some of the forfeited estates.

His father, while imprisoned in the Tower awaiting execution, urged Thomas to marry his stepsister Mary Dacre, the daughter of Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre and Elizabeth Leybourne, the duke's third wife. He did so; but Mary died, childless, in April 1578 at Walden.

In or before 1582, Howard remarried, his second wife being Katherine Knyvet, widow of Richard Rich, son of Robert Rich, 2nd Baron Rich. A noted beauty, she was also the eldest daughter and heiress of her father, Sir Henry Knyvet of Charlton. She survived her husband, dying in 1633.

Family

  • Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (13 August 1582 – 3 June 1640) married: Elizabeth Home, and had issue
  • Elizabeth Howard (c. 1583 – 17 April 1658) married: (1) William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, and had issue (2) Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden (some say that Elizabeth's and William's children were illegitimate)
  • Sir Robert Howard (1598–1653) (1) mistress Frances Villers and had issue Robert Danvers; (2) married: Catherine Nevill
  • Sir William Howard (1586 – before 1672)
  • Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire (8 October 1587 – 16 July 1669) married: Elizabeth Cecil, and had issue
  • Catherine Howard (c. 1588–1673) married: William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, and had issue
  • Frances Howard (31 May 1590 – 1632) married: (1) Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex (2) Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, and had issue
  • Sir Charles Howard (1591 – 21 June 1626), married Mary Fitz(john). Their daughter Elizabeth was a maid of honour and performed in the masque The Shepherd's Paradise.
  • Henry Howard (1592–1616), married Elizabeth Bassett and had issue. In September 1613 he travelled to Veere to fight a duel with the Earl of Essex, but the courtier Henry Gibb prevented the combat.
  • Edward Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Escrick (died 24 April 1675), married Mary Boteler daughter of John Boteler and Elizabeth Villiers, on 30 November 1623, and had issue.
  • Margaret Howard (c. 1599–1608)

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File:Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk.jpg|Theophilus Howard

File:Frances Howard-Countess-of-Somerset.jpg|Frances Howard

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thumb|Audley End, entrance

thumb|Audley End, aerial

thumb|Audley End, rear

In December 1584, he was restored in blood as Lord Thomas Howard.

In 1591, he was sent with a squadron to the Azores which was to waylay the Spanish treasure fleets from America. However, one fleet reached Spain before his arrival, and the second would not arrive in the islands until September. Forced by the long delay to land his sick and repair his ships, he was barely able to re-ballast and get to sea off Flores in time when his scouts reported an arriving fleet. To his horror, this proved to be, not the treasure fleet, but a powerful Spanish force dispatched from Ferrol to destroy his squadron. All of Howard's fleet escaped, by the barest of margins, except Revenge, commanded by the squadron's vice-admiral, Sir Richard Grenville. Revenge, some distance from the remainder of the fleet, attempted to break through the Castilian Squadron and was forced to surrender after a long fight, in which Revenge was virtually destroyed and Grenville mortally wounded.

In 1596, Howard served as vice-admiral of the expedition against Cádiz, which defeated a Spanish fleet and captured the town. Favoured by Queen Elizabeth, he was installed as a Knight of the Garter in April 1597, and in June sailed with the unsuccessful expedition to the Azores, which he had partly funded.)

A friend of Sir Robert Cecil, he became acting Lord Chamberlain at the close of 1602, and entertained the Queen at the Charterhouse, towards the end of her life in January 1603. Under James I, Howard immediately entered the King's favour, being appointed Lord Chamberlain on 6 April 1603 and a Privy Counsellor on 7 April. Later that year, on 21 July 1603, he was created Earl of Suffolk. He was also appointed a commissioner for creating Knights of the Bath, and from 1604 to 1618 a commissioner for the Earl Marshalcy. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk in 1605, having several years earlier been made Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. On 13 November 1619, they were found guilty on all counts. A fine of £30,000 was imposed, and they were sentenced to imprisonment at the King's pleasure.