General Notes

Lord High Admiral of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada.

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Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham and 1st Earl of Nottingham created 22 Oct 1596, KG (1574); born 1536; Commander in Chief of the English Fleet against the Spanish Armada 1588; married 1 July 1563 Catherine (died 25 Feb 1602/3), daughter of Henry Cary, Lord Hunsdon, and had [William & Charles], with three daughters (including Elizabeth, married Sir Robert Southwell).  The 2nd Baron married 2nd Sep 1603 Margaret (married 2nd 23 Oct 1625, as his 1st wife, the 1st and last Viscount Monson of Castlemaine, and died 5 Aug 1639), daughter of 2nd Earl of Moray, and died 14 Dec 1624, having by her had other issue. [Burke's Peerage]


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EARLDOM OF NOTTINGHAM (X, 1)

BARONY of HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM (II)

CHARLES (HOWARD), LORD HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM, son and heir of William, 1st BARON HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM (so created 1554), by his 2nd wife, Margaret, 3rd daughter of Sir Thomas GAMAGE, of Coity, co. Glamorgan; was born about 1536. He was in the train of FranAois de VendUme, Vidame of Chartres, in France and Lorraine 1552-53; Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, 1558; attended his father, Lord Howard, to France early in 1559; on 10 July 1559 Envoy to the French King, who had been severely wounded in a tourney; M.P. for Surrey, 1563-67 and 1572-73; admitted Gray's Inn, 1564; General of Horse of the army levied in the South against the Northern rebels, 1569; escorted the Queen Consort of Spain from the Low Countries to Spain, September 1570; knighted before 30 August 1571, on which day he was created M.A. of Cambridge; succeeded to his father's Barony 11 January 1572/3; nominated K.G. 23 April, and installed 22 May 1575. Lieutenant of Musters, Surrey, 1579; Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, 3 July 1585 to 1621, and jointly with his son, Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, from 1621 to his death; Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, 3 July 1585, and jointly with Lord Buckhurst (from 2 September 1586) and the Earl of Arundel (from 1608) to his death. As Vice Admiral he escorted the Duke of Anjou, thwarted of his marriage to the Queen, to Antwerp in February 1591/2; P.C. 1584 and 1603; Chamberlain of the Household, 1 January 1583/4 to July 1585; Lord High Admiral, 8 July 1585 (for life) to 1618/9, and as such in supreme command at the defeat of the Spanish Armada in July 1588 (g). A Commissioner to treat with the United Provinces, 29 July 1585, and for the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1586, but did not serve (i); Constable of Windsor Castle, 5 December 1588, and High Steward of Windsor, 15 January 1592/3, both till his death; Governor of the ships carrying aid to the King of France [Henri IV] September 1589; Keeper of Hampton Court, 24 March 1592/3; a joint Commissioner to exercise the office of Earl Marshal, 1 January 1591/2, 10 December 1601, 4 February 1603/4, 5 February 1604/5, 25 September 1616, 5 April 1617, and 7 February 1617/8; a Commissioner to install Knights of the Garter, 1593.

He held a joint command with the Earl of Essex of the fleet and forces sent against Cadiz in 1596, which city was captured on 21 June. He was created EARL OF NOTTINGHAM 22 October 1597, taking his seat 2 days later, styled High Steward "pro tempore." (f)  Chief justice in Eyre South of Trent, 15 June 1597 till his death. Lord Steward of the Household, 24 October 1597 to November 1615. The Queen's Lieutenant and Captain General in the South of England, 10 August 1599, and again 14 February 1600/1, 6 days after he had arrested at Essex House the Earl of Essex, for whose trial he was a Commissioner. Commissioner to create Knights of the Bath, 22 July 1603; as Lord High Steward, on 24 July 1603, he heard claims for offices at the Coronation; Lord High Constable at the Coronation of James I, 25 July 1603; Lord High Constable on the occasion of the Royal procession from the Tower to Westminster, 15 March 1603/4; Lord High Steward at opening of Parliament on 19 March 1603/4. He was a Commissioner to negotiate peace with Philip of Spain, 19 May 1604, and Ambassador Extraordinary to Madrid to receive ratification of the same, 22 March 1604/5 (f2). Commissioncr for a Treaty of Union of England and Scotland, 1604. He escorted Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, and her husband, the Elector Palatine, to Middelburg in the Low Countries, April 1613. Having resigned, at the age of 83, 27 January 1618/9, the post of Lord High Admiral (i2), he was given, in order not to lose precedence, a Royal warrant, 18 February following, granting him the precedency of the Earldom of Nottingham, created 1377, as enjoyed by his Progenitor [sic], John (Mowbray), Earl of Nottingham.

He married, 1stly, July 1563, Katharine, 1st daughter of Henry (CAREY), 1st BARON HUNSDON, by Ann, apparently daughter of Sir Thomas MORGAN. She, who was a lady of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth, died at Arundel House, Strand, Middlesex, 25, and was buried 28 February 1602/3, at Chelsea. He married, 2ndly, September 1603, Margaret, daughter of James (STEWART), EARL OF MORAY [SCT], by Elizabeth, daughter and heir of James (STEWART), also EARL OF MORAY [SCT], sometime Regent of Scotland. He died at Haling House, near Croydon, Surrey, 14, and was buried 18 December 1624, at Reigate, aged about 88. His widow, who was naturalised by Act of Parliament, married, at Reigate, on or shortly before 25 October 1625, as his 1st wife, William (MONSON), VISCOUNT MONSON OF CASTLEMAINE (IRL], who was degraded from his dignities 12 July 1661, and died before 11 April 1673, She died in Covent Gardcn, Middlesex, 4, and was buried 19 August 1639, at Chelsea.  [Complete Peerage IX:782-7, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(g) Although the Queen apparently contemplated conferring the Earldom of Nottingham on him in Jan 1588/9, neither he nor, it would seem, any other person received peerage honours at the time in recognition of the great victory.  After the defeat of the Armada he complained bitterly to Burghley, Walsingham, and to the Queen herself, that the crews were ravaged by disease brought on by putrid rations; that they were unpaid and there was no money to relieve them.  "It is pitiful to have men starve after such a service."

(i) At a private audience he represented to the Queen the ever present danger to her person at a time when Queen Mary's escape was rumoured daily; she resolved thereupon to delay no longer and signed the warrant for execution 1 Feb 1586/7.

(f) The Earl of Essex, taking offense at the credit given--in the preamble of the patents--to Lord Howard for the defeat of the Armada and the taking of Cadiz, "moved for a commission of inquiry and issued a challenge to Howard or one of his sons."  The Queen, in a revulsion of feeling, created Essex Earl Marshal.

(f2) His retinue, said to have numbered about 500, included his two sons, William, Lord Howard, and Sir Charles Howard.

(i2) On surrendering this office, he was to receive an annuity of 1,000 pounds, and a gift of 3,000 pounds from the Duke of Buckingham.  The Duke, on his appointment the following day, allowed the Navy Commissioners to continue their reforms, whereby 10 new ships were constructed by 1623 for a total annual naval expenditure of 30,000 pounds as against 53,000 pounds previously.