Howard, Sir Robert

(1626-1698)

   The son of Thomas Howard, first earl of Berkshire, he was educated either at Magdalen College, Oxford, or Magdalene College, Cambridge. He supported the king in the Civil War, and in 1644 was knighted on the field near Newbury for bravery. Imprisoned in Windsor Castle by the Parliamentarians, at the Restoration he became member of Parliament for Stockbridge, Hampshire, and was made a knight of the Bath. He became a member of the privy council in 1688 and held the lucrative post of auditor of the exchequer from 1677 until his death. He was buried in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, Westminster Abbey. He will be remembered chiefly for his dispute with his brother-in-law, John Dryden, on the use of rhymed verse in drama. Some of his publications: Poems, 1660. Foure New Plays: (1) Surprisal; (2) Committee; (3) Vestal Virgin; (4) Indian Queen, 1665; Great Favorite: or the Duke of Lerma, 1688. Some of his poems: "Poor mortals that are clogged with earth below (Fairy Queen)," "The Achilleid," "To the Unconstant Cynthia."

   Sources: The English Civil War, Cropredy Bridge, 1644 (http://www.theteacher99.btinternet.co.uk/ecivil/cropredy.htm). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Book of Classical Verse in Translation. Adrian Poole, and Jeremy Maule, ed. 1995. The Treasury of English Poetry. Mark Caldwell and Walter Kendrick, ed. Doubleday, 1984. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).