William Howard (judge)

Sir William Howard (by 1225 – 1308), known as William of Wiggenhall, was an English lawyer who became a justice of the Court of Common Pleas.[2] He is known also as the earliest ancestor of the male line of the House of Howard established by solid historical research.[3]

Stained glass (c.1485/1509[1]) in Long Melford Church in Suffolk, showing William Howard (d.1308) at far left, with his arms above, with two other later judges (Richard Pigot (d.1483) Judge & Sergeant-at-Law to King Edward IV; John Haugh (d.1489))
Arms of Howard (unaugmented): Gules, a bend between six cross-crosslets fitchy argent

Life

His family was from the neighbourhood of Lynn, Norfolk.[4] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography identifies Wiggenhall as Howard's probable birthplace. He was acting as an attorney for Norfolk clients by the later 1270s.[2]

Howard was a serjeant in the mid-1280s and acted in the eyre courts. He acted as an assize justice from 1293, and a common pleas justice from 1297.

Records show that Howard attended parliament in 1302, and was on a trailbaston circuit in 1307. He died by 24 August 1308, when his replacement as assize justice was recorded. He was buried at East Winch, where he owned the manor.[2]

Family

Howard was twice married, with both wives being named Alice. His son and heir John is regarded as from his first marriage.[2]

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References
  1. "In or about the reign of Henry VII a figure of him kneeling in his robes with the legend 'Pray for the soul of William Howard, chief justice of England,' was inserted in one of the stained-glass windows in the church of Long Melford, Suffolk" (Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 28, Howard, William (d.1308), by James McMullen Rigg)
  2. Brand, Paul. "Howard, Sir William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13945. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. Head, David M. (1995). The Ebbs and Flows of Fortune: The Life of Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk. University of Georgia Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780820316833.
  4. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Howard, William (d.1308)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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