Howard, William (1563 -1640)

Lord William Howard was the third son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Thomas, Lord Audley, and sister of Philip, Earl of Arundel. He probably entered St John's College, Cambridge about 1577. Involved in the fortunes of his brother Philip, and imprisoned with him in 1583, he entered the Church of Rome in 1584. He married Elizabeth, sister and coheir of George Lord Dacre, restored Naworth Castle in Cumberland, settled there, and improved his estates and encouraged agriculture. He was Warden of the Western Marches. A scholar and antiquary he amassed a large library and presented books to St John's College, Cambridge. The remains of the library at Naworth, 251 books, were sold at auction by Sotheby's 14 December 1992, as a single lot, lot 171. The binding stamps are not illustrated or described, except perhaps in the following `Howard's initials stamped on bindings (further links may be established through a study of binding devices, a number of which are similar to those on which his initials appear)'. There was a fire at Naworth in May 1844, and the books were thrown out of the windows of the tower. As a result a number were recased in the original vellum, or rebound in nineteenth century calf bindings.