eldest daughter of Roger Sotheby, M.P. for Wicklow city, and by her had three sons Hugh [q. v.], Robert (see below), and William (M.P. for Dublin city from 1727 till his death in the next year), and three daughters.
Howard, Robert (1683–1740), bishop of Elphin, was Ralph Howard's second son. He obtained a fellowship in Trinity College, Dublin, in 1703, became dean of Ardagh in 1722, was consecrated to the see of Killala in 1726, and in 1729 was translated to that of Elphin. In 1728 he succeeded his elder brother William in the estate of Shelton Abbey, co. Wicklow. In 1737 he brought thither the works of art which he inherited from his brother Hugh. He died in April 1740. He published six single sermons, preached on public occasions.
Howard, Ralph, Viscount Wicklow (d. 1786), eldest son of the bishop, was sheriff of co. Wicklow 1749, and of co. Carlow 1754; in 1761 and 1768 was elected M.P. for both co. Wicklow and the borough of St. Johnstown; in May 1770 was sworn of the privy council; on 12 July 1776 was raised to the Irish peerage as Baron Clonmore of Clonmore Castle, co. Carlow, and on 23 June 1785 was promoted to be Viscount Wicklow. He died on 26 June 1786. His widow, Alice, daughter and sole heiress of William Forward of Castle Forward, co. Donegal, was created Countess of Wicklow in her own right 20 Dec. 1793. She died on 7 March 1807. Her son Robert succeeded her as Earl of Wicklow, and sat as a representative peer in the united parliament of 1801. The present and seventh earl (b. 1877) is his great-grandnephew.
[Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, ed. Archdall, vi.85, under 'Wicklow;' Foster's Peerage, under 'Wicklow;' Todd's Cat. of Dublin Graduates; Dublin University Calendar; Cotton's Fasti Eccles. Hib. iii. 188, iv. 75; Cat. Library, Trinity College, Dublin.]
HOWARD, RICHARD BARON (1807–1848), physician, son of Charles Howard of Hull and his wife Mary Baron of Manchester, was born at Melbourne, East Riding of Yorkshire, on 18 Oct. 1807. He was educated at Northallerton, and in 1823 removed to Edinburgh, where he obtained a surgeon's diploma. In 1829 he became a licentiate of the Apothecaries' Society in London, and took the degree of M.D. at Edinburgh. His thesis was entitled 'De Hydrocephalo Acuto.' From 1829 to 1833 he was physician's clerk in the Manchester Infirmary, and from 1833 until February 1838 acted as medical officer at the Manchester workhouse, subsequently holding the office of physician to the Ardwick and Ancoats Dispensary in the same town. During this time his work had been mainly among the poor, and his deep interest in their condition led him in 1839 to publish 'An Inquiry into the Morbid Effects of Deficiency of Food, chiefly with reference to their occurrence amongst the Destitute Poor.' In the following year, at the invitation of the poor-law commissioners, he wrote a `Report upon the prevalence of Disease arising from Contagion, Malaria, and certain other Physical Causes amongst the Labouring Classes in Manchester.' At a later period he again wrote on the same subject in J. Adshead's pamphlet on the state of the working classes in Manchester. In 1842, on being appointed physician to the infirmary, he printed 'An Address delivered to the Pupils,' &c. His other appointments were those of physician at Haydock Lodge Lunatic Asylum and lecturer at the Manchester College of Medicine. He had an extensive connection with the scientific societies of the town, where he was warmly esteemed as a lecturer, practitioner, and philanthropist. He died at his father's house at York on 9 April 1848, after a painful illness, and was buried in the neighbouring cemetery.
[Brit, and For. Medico-Chirurgical Review, quoted in Gent. Mag., September 1848, p. 323; S. Hibbert- Ware's Life and Corresp. p. 451.]
HOWARD, Sir ROBERT (1585–1653), politician, born in 1585, was fifth son of Thomas Howard, first earl of Suffolk [q. v.], by his second wife, Catherine. He was uncle of his namesake, the historian and poet [see Howard, Sir Robert, 1626–1698], and brother of Theophilus, second earl of Suffolk [q. v.], and of Edward, first lord Howard of Escrick [q. v.] Robert and his younger brother William (1600-1672) were made knights of the Bath 4 Nov. 1616, when Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I, was created Prince of Wales (Howard, Family Memorials, fol.) At the death of an elder brother, Sir Charles Howard of Clun, in connection with whose estate he was granted letters of administration 21 June 1626, Howard succeeded to the property of Clun Castle, Shropshire, as heir of entail under the settlement of his great-uncle, the Earl of Nottingham. In 1624 he became notorious by his intrigue with Frances, viscountess Purbeck, the proceedings connected with which increased the unpopularity of the Star-chamber. The lady, daughter of Sir Edward Coke [q. v.], had been forced into a marriage with Sir John Villiers, first viscount Purbeck, brother of George Villiers, first duke of Buckingham. After living some time apart from her husband she was privately delivered, on 19 Oct. 1624, of a son, baptised at Cripplegate under the name of
