William Howard 1st Baron Howard of Effingham

     William Howard 1st Baron Howard of Effingham was born circa 1510.³ He was the son of Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Agnes Tilney.² William Howard 1st Baron Howard of Effingham married Katherine Broughton before 18 June 1531. William Howard 1st Baron Howard of Effingham married Margaret Gamage, daughter of Sir Thomas Gamage and Margaret St. John, on 29 June 1533 at England.^2,1 William Howard 1st Baron Howard of Effingham died circa 21 January 1572 at Hampton Court Palace, Richmond, England. He was buried between 29 January 1572 and 1573 at Reigate Church, Reigate, Surrey, England.
     William Howard was educated at Trinity Hall at Cambridge University.

In 1531 Howard was sent on an embassy to Scotland by King Henry VIII, and accompanied the King to Boulogne in October 1532. In May 1533, as deputy to his half-brother, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, he served as Earl Marshal at the coronation of his niece, Anne Boleyn, the daughter of his half-sister, Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire. On 10 September 1533, Howard bore the canopy over his great-niece Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth I). In 1534 he went to Scotland. His instructions including getting the measurements of James V of Scotland from the Bishop of Aberdeen, Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. Then Howard's tailor would make Henry VIII's nephew a new suit of clothes as a present. Howard would then broach the subject of the two kings meeting in person. In February 1535 he was sent again to Scotland to invest James V with the Order of the Garter and brought a present of 'great horses'. Howard met James V at Stirling Castle on Good Friday. They discussed a possible meeting of the two Kings at Newcastle at Michaelmas. Margaret Tudor praised his abilities and wrote that her son James V, "lykkis hym right weill."

In June 1535 he was in France as a member of the English embassy authorized to negotiate with the French Admiral, Philippe de Chabot. In February 1536 he was again in Scotland, this time for the purpose of persuading James V to adopt Henry VIII's religious policy. He returned to Scotland again in April when he heard rumours from Margaret Tudor and others that James V intended to marry his mistress, Margaret Erskine, Lady Lochleven. He was again in France in 1537. On 11 December 1539 he was among those who welcomed King Henry VIII's fourth bride, Anne of Cleves at Calais.

While on an embassy to France in 1541 William Howard was charged with concealing the sexual indiscretions of his young niece, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, and was recalled to England to stand trial. On 22 December 1541 Howard, his wife, and a number of servants who had been alleged witnesses to the Queen's misconduct were arraigned for misprision of treason, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment and loss of goods. He and most of the others were pardoned after Queen Catherine's execution on 13 February 1542.²