Robert Howard (playwright)

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Robert Howard (playwright)

Sir Robert Howard (January, 1626 – 3 September 1698) was an English playwright and politician, born to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Catherine Knyvet.He was born in Saffron Walden, Essex....
and his wife Elizabeth.

Life
As the 18-year-old son of a royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Roundheads for a Royalist supporter of Charles I of England during the English Civil War . Prince Rupert of the Rhine, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical Cavalier....
family, he fought at the battle of Cropredy Bridge

Battle of Cropredy Bridge

The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was a battle of the English Civil Wars, fought on 29 June 1644 between a Parliament of England army under Sir William Waller and the Cavalier army of King Charles I of England....
and was knighted for the bravery he showed there. In the years after

English Interregnum

The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War. It began with the regicide of Charles I of England in January 1649, and ended with the English Restoration of Charles II of England in 1660....
the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
his royalist sympathies led to his imprisonment at Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Berkshire in the England county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William I of England, is the oldest in continuous occupation....
in 1658.

After the Restoration

English Restoration

The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored under Charles II of England after the Interregnum that followed the English Civil War....
, he quickly rose to prominence in political life, with several appointments to posts which brought him influence and money.

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Sir Robert Howard (January, 1626 – 3 September 1698) was an English playwright and politician, born to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Catherine Knyvet.He was born in Saffron Walden, Essex....
and his wife Elizabeth.

Life

As the 18-year-old son of a royalist

Cavalier

Battle of Cropredy Bridge

English Interregnum

English Civil War

Windsor Castle

English Restoration

Stockbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Stockbridge was a parliamentary borough in Hampshire, which elected two Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons from 1563 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act....
, and believed in a balance of parliament and monarchy. All his life he continued in a series of powerful positions; in 1671 he became secretary to the Treasury

Secretary to the Treasury

In the United Kingdom, there are five Secretaries to the Treasury, officials officially acting as secretaries to the HM Treasury board. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during William Cecil tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century....
, and in 1673 auditor of the Exchequer. He helped bring William of Orange

William III of England

William III was a Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 onwards, he governed as List_of_stadtholders_for_the_Low_Countries_provinces William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic....
to the throne and was made a privy councillor

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British monarchy. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons of the United Kingdom or House of Lords....
in 1689. His interest in financial matters continued, and in later life he subscribed to the newly founded Bank of England

Bank of England

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. Since 1946 it has been a Nationalisation institution....
while continuing his work on currency reform.

He was thought of as arrogant and was caricatured in a play by Shadwell

Thomas Shadwell

Thomas Shadwell was an England poet and playwright who was appointed poet laureate in 1689....
as Sir Positive-At-All, a boastful knight. Howard died on 3 September 1698 and is buried in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic architecture Church , in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster....
.

Works

Most of his writing was for the stage, although he also wrote some poetry, and two books on political questions. Howard was active in the London theatrical world after the Restoration, and was both scene designer for, and shareholder in, the Theatre Royal

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a London borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane....
, along with Thomas Killigrew

Thomas Killigrew

Thomas Killigrew , was an England dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England....
and eight actors

King's Company

The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration....
. His plays were successful and continued to be performed in the 18th century, though some later critics, notably Walter Scott

Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, was a prolific Scotland historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe during his time.In some ways Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers all over Europe, Australia, and North America....
, found fault with them. The Committee, a political comedy, was the most popular, with The Great Favourite, or The Duke of Lerma
The Great Favourite

The Great Favourite, or the Duke of Lerma is a stage play written By Sir Robert Howard , a historical drama based on the life of Francisco Gom?z de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, the favorite of King Philip III of Spain....
preferred by some writers: A. W. Ward

Adolphus William Ward

Sir Adolphus William Ward was an England historian and man of letters.He was born at Hampstead, and was educated in Germany and at Peterhouse, Cambridge....
, for example. He and his brother-in-law, the poet John Dryden

John Dryden

John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of English Restoration to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden....
, co-wrote The Indian Queen
The Indian Queen

The Indian Queen is a play by Robert Howard , written in collaboration with John Dryden, his sister's husband. It was first performed in 1664 with incidental music by John Banister the elder ....
, later set to music by Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell...
. Howard, who had acted as Dryden's patron for some time, went on to have a public dispute with him over the use of rhyme in drama, but they were reconciled before Howard's death.

Family

He was notorious in his private life, marrying four times.

After the mother of his six children, Anne Kingsmill, died, he married an older widow, Lady Honoria (née O'Brien), and adopted the manor at Wootton Bassett

Wootton Bassett

Wootton Bassett is a small market town located 6 miles southwest of Swindon in northern Wiltshire, UK. At the 2001 UK census its population was 11,043, indicating that the town has virtually tripled in size over the last 50 years....
left her by her husband, Sir Francis Englefield. Lady Honoria complained to the King and to the Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the British monarchy and the House of Lords ....
that Howard did not allow her any of the money which she had brought into the marriage. His third wife was Mary Uphill, who was often at Howard's manor house at Ashtead

Ashtead

Ashtead is a large village situated within the Green belt of Surrey, England, and is part of the suburbia of London. It is separated from Leatherhead by the M25 motorway, and from Epsom by Ashtead Common....
which he bought around 1680. In 1693 he married an 18-year-old maid of honour, Anabella Dives.

Thomas

Thomas Howard (1651-1701)

Thomas Howard was the only surviving son of Robert Howard of Ashstead, Surrey.He served as a Teller of the Exchequer from 1689 until his death, a post that provided him with a house at Westminster....
was his only surviving son; his daughter, the Poor Clare Mary Howard was in a convent at Rouen

Rouen

Rouen is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie r?gion in France....
.

Howard had three brothers who also wrote plays — Edward Howard

Edward Howard (playwright)

Edward Howard was an English dramatist and author of the English Restoration era. He was the fifth son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire, and one of four playwriting brothers: Sir Robert Howard , Colonel Henry Howard, and James Howard were the others....
, Colonel Henry Howard, and James Howard. Their sister, Elizabeth Howard, was married to Dryden.

Robert Howard (playwright)

Life

Works

Family

Further reading