Name Thomas 16th Died December 4, 1851 | Coronation date 1820 Deposed date 1851 | |
 | ||
Thomas Howard, 16th Earl of Suffolk, 9th Earl of Berkshire (18 August 1776 – 4 December 1851), Viscount Andover, Baron Howard of Charleton, Colonel of the Wiltshire Militia and FSA, was a British peer and politician.
Contents
Background
Suffolk was the second but eldest surviving son of General John Howard, 15th Earl of Suffolk, and Julia, daughter of John Gaskarth of Hutton Hall, Penrith, Cumberland. He gained the courtesy title Viscount Andover on the death of his elder brother, Charles Nevinson, who was killed by the accidental discharge of his fowling-piece in 1800.
Political career
Suffolk was Member of Parliament for Arundel from 1802 to 1806. He was appointed Major-Commandant of the Malmesbury Volunteers by commission dated 15 Dec. 1803. In 1820 he succeeded his father in the two united earldoms of Suffolk and Berkshire and entered the House of Lords. In politics his Lordship was a liberal Whig, and he voted for the Reform Bill on the decisive division of 14 April 1832. He was not a Protectionist, though a distinguished agriculturist. His appearance and usual costume was that of an ordinary farmer.
Family
Lord Suffolk married the Hon. Elizabeth Jane, daughter of James Dutton, 1st Baron Sherborne and Elizabeth Coke, in 1803. Elizabeth Jane was a double first cousin to Jane Elizabeth Coke, the former wife of Charles Nevinson Howard, Viscount Andover, and thus the niece of agricultural reformer Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester and his wife Jane Dutton. She died in April 1836, aged 60. They had ten children:
Lord Suffolk survived his wife by 15 years and died in December 1851, aged 75. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles.