Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt. 1646 - 1723

half length, wearing armour and a white cravat

J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p. 111, no. 370

Robert Howard's remarkable politcal career spanned the reigns of four monarchs. The son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire and his wife Elizabeth daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter, he was knighted at the age of only eighteen for galantry in the Civil War. At the Restoration he started to acquire an impressive number of government offices, including Clerk of the Patents in Chancery, Secretary to the Treasury, Auditor of the Receipt and Keeper of the Royal Game. By 1672 he was rich enough to lend the Crown £9,000 for the Dutch War. He was M.P. for Stockbridge and later for Castle Rising, and in 1680 bought the manor of Ashtead in Surrey from Henry Howard, Duke of Norfolk. He was a keen supporter of the cause of William of Orange, and in 1689 the new King appointed him to the Privy Council. He was also able to combine a career in politics with that of a dramatist and critic. He was a shareholder in the Theatre Royal, a collaborator with John Dryden, and wrote numerous plays, including the popular The Committee of 1662. He was married four times - his second wife, Lady Honoria O'Brien, was a great heiress and brought him the manor of Wootton Bassett, and his fourth wife Anabella Dives (whose portrait by Kneller is at Easton Neston) was an eighteen year old maid of honour to the Queen.