THE LORD THOMAS HOWARD.
The Lord Thomas Howard was a son of the fourth Duke of Norfolk. His lordship was a distinguished commander in the memorable engagement between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada, in 1588.
In 1591 he had command of a squadron of ships sent out to attack the Spanish Plate fleet, homeward bound from America, and distinguished himself, with Sir Thomas Vasseur, in capturing a part of this fleet.
He was, in 1596, in the fleet commanded by Charles Howard, Lord High Admiral of England. This Thomas Howard led the third squadron, and it was this fleet which took the town of Cadiz. The same year, on his return, he was summoned to Parliament by the title of Lord Howard of Walden.
The next year, to divert the Spaniard from a descent on Ireland, the Queen sent out a fleet of one hundred and twenty, divided into three squadrons, commanded by the Earl of Essex, Lord Thomas Howard, and Sir Walter Raleigh. On his return to England, he was installed one of the Knights of the Garter, May 24, 1597.
In 1601, he was one of the commanders of the forces to whom the Earl of Essex surrendered, and on the 19th February following he was one of the peers that sat on his trial, being then constable of the Tower. Meeting King James I. at Theobalds, in May, 1603, he was sworn of the Privy Council, and July 21st following was advanced to the Earldom of Suffolk. He was also made a Commissioner for making Knights of the Bath, also for executing the office of Earl Marshal of England. In 1605, being Lord Chamberlain together with the Lord Mounteagle, the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. He was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1613, and July 11, 1614, was constituted Lord High Treasurer of England. The earl died in London, May 28, 1626.
SIR ROGER TOWNSHEND.
Sir Roger Townshend of Raynham, Knight, was descended, according to Collins and other learned antiquaries, through a long line of ancestry from Lodovic or Lewis, a Norman nobleman, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas de Hauteville or Havile, Lord of Raynham, through which match the Raynham estate came into the family and is now the chief seat of the Marquis Townshend.
This Sir Roger was born about 1550, and was heir to his great grandfather, Sir Roger Townshend, Kt., whose will was proved at Norwich, Co. Norfolk, May 10, 1552. He was a gentleman of high rank and great worth in his native county Norfolk, and while Spain was preparing the Invincible Armada of 1588 to invade England, he manifested the greatest spirit and energy in fitting out and manning ships at his own expense to repel the invaders, going in person in the cause of his country, and on account of his undaunted spirit and bravery in the several engagements previous to the 26th of July, he was knighted that day on board the Ark Royal, by the Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham, who had power from Queen Elizabeth so to do. This Sir Roger was in the thickest of the fight and suffered the loss of many of his men, and we have evidence from a letter dated at Margate, Kent, August 10, 1588, in which Lord Howard writes Burghley “that of all the men brought by Sir Roger Townshend he has but one left alive.”
He lived but two years afterwards, dying in the flower of his age at a seat he had purchased of Thomas Sutton, Esq., at Newington, Co. Middlesex, and was buried June 30, 1590, in the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London.