SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF THE
TWELFTH, OR EAST SUFFOLK
REGIMENT OF FOOT.
Henry Duke of Norfolk, K. G.
Appointed 20th of June, 1685.
Henry Howard, son of Henry sixth Duke of Norfolk, sat in the House of Lords by the title of Lord Mowbray, in the lifetime of his father, and on the death of Prince Rupert, in 1682, he was nominated Governor and Constable of Windsor Castle and Warden of the forest at Windsor, also Lord-lieutenant of the counties of Berks and Surrey. On the decease of his father, in 1684, he succeeded to the dignity of Duke of Norfolk, and of Earl Marshal of England, and he was also constituted Lord-lieutenant of Norfolk. On the accession of King James II., he was one of the peers who signed the order for His Majesty's proclamation, and he was shortly afterwards elected a Knight Companion of the most noble Order of the Garter. He took an active part in favour of the King, on the breaking out of the rebellion of James Duke of Monmouth, and interested himself in the raising of a corps of pikemen and musketeers, now Twelfth foot, of which he was appointed colonel, and of which his garrison company at Windsor Castle formed a part. In a few months after tranquillity was restored, he relinquished the command of the regiment, but continued to attend at court, and witnessed, with painful emotions, the predilection of the King in favour of papacy and arbitrary government. On one occasion His Majesty gave the Duke of Norfolk the sword of state to carry before him to the Roman Catholic chapel; but on arriving at the door, His Grace stopped, not being willing to enter the chapel, when the King said, "My Lord, your father would have gone further;" to which the Duke replied, "Your Majesty's father was the better man, and he would not have gone so far."[21]
The Duke of Norfolk continued faithful to the interests of the Protestant religion, and was one of the peers who invited the Prince of Orange to come to England with an army to oppose the proceedings of the court. When the Prince landed, His Grace was in London, and signed the petition to the King for a free Parliament; His Majesty replied, "They should have a Parliament, and such a one as they asked for, when the Prince of Orange had quitted the realm:" and commenced his journey, on the same day, to place himself at the head of his army. His Grace set out for his seat in Norfolk, declared for the Prince of Orange, and brought over that, and some of the neighbouring counties, to the Prince's interest. On the accession of the Prince and Princess of Orange to the throne, His Grace was sworn a member of the privy council, and he took an active part in raising a regiment for the King's service, now the Twenty-second foot, of which he was appointed Colonel, by commission dated the 16th of March, 1689. He died on the 2nd of April, 1701.