THE HOWARD FAMILY – from Cambridgeshire        

See the Howard Census Transcripts

See the Hauxton and Little Shelford parish record Transcripts

See the Howard Family Tree

See the Howard Family photographs

DNA Matches

 Credit must also go to Gordon Boundy and Robyn Smith [see also Robyn’s Relative Search site] who have similarly done a lot of research into the Howard’s of Little Shelford, Cambridgeshire, from which they are both descended. 

The Howard family, from which we are descended, appear to have originated in Cambridgeshire. My earliest ancestor at this time is Nicholas Haward who married Elizabeth Howton on 12th November, 1608 at Croydon-cum-clopton, Cambridgeshire ⁹.   There was also a John and a William Haward having children in the same areas during this period. As for his parentage; there is a Nicholas Harwood baptised on 22nd November, 1588 at Great Shelford, the son of Roger Harwood.  This is a distinct possibility as far as location is concerned and it would make him 20 when he married.  However, there are no Rogers in any of my Howard tree and this is a family who appears to use naming patterns quite heavily, so I am just not sure. 

It appears as though Nicholas moved from Croydon to nearby Arrington between 1613 and 1614 as earlier children baptised at Croydon were buried in Arrington ¹⁰.; or he just changed his parish of preference? Nicholas and Elizabeth had the following children:

Grace Haward bp 26.2.1609 Croydon-cum-Clopton
                                bur 27.7.1615 Arrington 
John Haward bp 23.1.11610/11 Croydon-cum-Clopton
Henry Haward bp 20.6.1613 Croydon-cum-Clopton                                                                                                                                                                                   m 25.3.1633 St Sepulchre’s Cambridge to Ann Vickers                                                                                                                                              bur 28.5.1659 L Shelford                                                                                                                                                                    Barbarye Haward bp 25.12.1614 Arrington
Grace Haward bp 18.3.1616 Arrington                                                                                                                                                                                                             bur 20.4.1636 Arrington
Mary Haward bp 26.10.1620 Arrington
                              m 15.6.1641 Arrington to William Rutterforth                                                                                                                                                            bur 5.6.1642 Arrington
William Haward bp 23.3.1622 Arrington
                                  

Henry Howard/Haward was baptized at Croydon-cum-clopton, near Cambridge on 20th June, 1613.  Henry lived at Little Shelford.  It seems likely that he married Ann Vickers, most probably the daughter of Frances Vickers and Margaret, on  25th March, 1633 at St. Sepulchre’s, Cambridge. Henry and Ann had the following children all baptised at Little Shelford ¹:

Henry Howard (Sexton) bp 14.9.1634 L. Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                        m 24.4.1665 Stow-Cum-Quy to Dorothy Sanders
Anne Hayward bp 9.4.1638 L. Shelford
Elizabeth Hayward bp 29.11.1640 L. Shelford
Mary Howard bp 9.4.1647 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                           bur 16.4.1647 L. Shelford
Johannes Howard/Hayward (Yeoman) bp 17.1.1649 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                           m 7.9.1675 to Anna/Amy Newman                                                                                                                                                                           bur 19.3.1706 L.Shelford (will dated 1704)
Elizabeth Howard bp 23.3.1659 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                         bur 6.5.1660 L. Shelford

Henry was buried on 28th May, 1659 and Ann,  on 29th March, 1660 both at Little Shelford. I have found the will of Henry, his son (born 1634) dated 15th March 1675 (two days before his burial), In it he states that he is Yeoman of Little Shelford and leaves all his lands to his daughter Elizabeth and asks his brother John (b 1649) to be her guardian.

Johannes Howard was a Yeoman farmer.  He was seems to have married to Anna but as yet no marriage can be found. There is, however, a marriage between John Howard (of Little Shelford) and Amy Newman (of Hauxton) that took place on 6th September, 1675 at St. Edward’s, Cambridge. There may have been a mistake in the registers and/or the transcription. A son Newman Howard could be the clue here.   They had the following children, again at Little Shelford ¹:

Johannes Howard (Yeoman) bp 8.5.1676 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                           m 16.4.1698 Duxford St.John to Anna King                                                                                                                                                          bur 1.10.1726 L.Shelford
Anne/Anna Howard bp 19.3.1677 L. Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                          m before 1704 to Thomas Chambers
Henry Howard/Hayward bp 8.9.1679 L Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                             bur 12.9.1679 L Shelford
Newman Howard/Hayward bp 19.3.1682 L Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                          bur 27.2.1683 L Shelford, 

Johannes or John made a will in 1704 and died in 1706.  The will stated that he was Yeoman of Great Shelford and he left a total of £95 worth of possessions and livestock.  He appears to have left all his lands to his son John and £80 to his other son Henry. 

His son Johannes, born in 1676 was also a Yeoman.  He married Anna King, daughter of Thomas King in 1698 at Duxford St. John. They had eight children, although only three all of them survived into adulthood. All were baptized at Little Shelford parish church ¹:

Anna Howard bp 12.4.1699 L.Shelford
Elizabetha Howard bp 25.11.1700 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                        bur 24.2.1720 L.Shelford
Johannes Howard bp 18.5.1702 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                          bur 28.8.1702 L.Shelford
Johannes Howard bp 12.7.1703 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                          bur 28.9.1703 L.Shelford
Henry Howard (Yeoman) bp 10.6.1707 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                          m 28.1.1729 Dullingham to Ann Wallis                                                                                                                                                                  bur 31.3.1752 L.Shelford
Johannes Howard bp 7.9.1713 L.Shelford
Thomas Howard bp 8.1.1715  L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                             bur  13.1.1716 L. Shelford
Maria Howard bp 9.1.1717 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                             bur  6.10.1719 L Shelford

John was known to be living in Little Shelford in 1722 as he was entered in the 1722 Poll Book for Cambridge. He was a Yeoman farmer and died intestate in 1726, and although no record of his burial could be found initially, it has recently been found to be 1st October, 1726 at Little Shelford. In a Letter of Administration and inventory, dated 11th October, 1726 listed, amongst other things, is a total of 227 acres of agricultural land plus much livestock. The contents of the inventory give a good insight into the living conditions at this time; there were no items around the house that weren’t essential and the kitchen contained just enough pots and pans for the family. His widow Ann, died in 1733 and was buried on 25th October, 1733 also at Little Shelford.

Henry Howard born in 1707 was also a Yeoman farmer.  He married Ann Wallis on 28th January 1729 at Dullingham. Although they had six children, only four survived and all were baptized at Little Shelford parish church ¹.

Elizabetha Howard bp 20.3.1730 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                        bur 26.4.1730 L.Shelford
Elizabeth Howard bp 10.1.1731 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                            m 29.8.1763 G. Shelford to Robert Andrew
John Howard (Yeoman) bp 15.2.1733 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                         m 11.7.1756 G.Shelford to Constantia Graine                                                                                                                                                      bur 24.6.1769 L.Shelford
Ann Howard bp 14.5.1736 L Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                          bur 10.10.1736 L Shelford
Ann Howard bp 17.1.1737 L Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                           m 27.7.1775 G Shelford to William Clark
Henry Howard bp 31.8.1739 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                         m 20.3.1763 L Shelford to Mary Allin                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Henry Howard was a Yeoman Farmer and in his will of 1752, he left all his estate to his widow, Ann and a total of £150 to his children.   He was buried on 31st March, 1752 at Little Shelford.

His son John Howard was baptized at Little Shelford on 15th February, 1733. He married Constantia Graine, daughter of Richard Graine and Mary of Great Shelford, on 11th July, 1756 at Great Shelford parish church ². They lived in Little Shelford where John was a farmer of over 190 acres of land and there, they had five children who were all baptized at Little Shelford parish church ¹:

Elizabeth Howard  bp 1.5.1757 L.Shelford
John Howard (Gentleman) bp 1.10.1758 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                           bur 29.9.1819 L.Shelford
Ann Howard bp 4.3.1759 L.Shelford
Henry Howard (Tailor of St. Andrew) bp 9.7.1762 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                           m 20.6.1786 L.Shelford to Elizabeth Gates                                                                                                                                                           bur 28.3.1801 L.Shelford
Peter Howard bp 10.6.1764 L.Shelford                                                                                                                                                                                                         bur 11.10.1764 L.Shelford

John made his last will and testament 5th March, 1767 and died two years later. He was buried on 24th June, 1769 at Little Shelford. The inventory of his estate made on 4th August, 1769 showed that he owned 192 acres of farmland and four hundred sheep and lambs; the total amounting to £786.His widow Constant also made a will in 1822 which was not proved until 1832 in which the benefactors of her estate were her grandson John Henry Howard and her nephew Peter Grain (her brother’s son) and his son Peter Grain, her great nephew.  

John’s son Henry Howard was a tailor. He married Elizabeth Butcher Gates (daughter of Richard Gates and Bridget Butcher) on 20th June, 1786 at Little Shelford parish church. Henry and Elizabeth had six children, baptized at St. Andrew the Great, Cambridge ³;                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Likeness of Henry Howard, tailor of St.Andrew – a hand-painted miniture (courtesy of Sue Pountney)

Elizabeth Eddington Howard bp 1786/87?                                                                                                                                                        bur 25.5.1790 L.Shelford
Richard Gates Howard bp 17.2.1788 St.Andrew Great                                                                                                                          bur 26.3.1816 L.Shelford
Henry Howard bp 9.3.1791 St.Andrew Great                                                                                                                           bur 15.6.1795 L.Shelford
Elizabeth Eddington Howard bp 30.12.1793 St.Andrew Great                                                                                                                        bur 8.1.1795 L. Shelford
Anne Howard bp 13.11.1798 St.Andrew Great                                                                                                                       bur 4.3.1813 L.Shelford
John Henry Howard bp 13.11.1798 St.Andrew Great                                                                                                                       m 26.6.1822 Shoreditch to Susan Lofts                                                                                                 bur 8.1.1860 L Shelford

At the time of Anne and John Henry’s baptism, Henry was described as a butcher.  However, when he died he was referred to as “Tailor of St. Andrew’s”.  He was buried on 28th March, 1801 at Little Shelford ¹. He left a will dated 26th March 1801.   In it he leaves everything to his brother John Howard (Gentleman of Little Shelford) and a friend Edward Lunn and named them both as executors to pay out to his wife Elizabeth and children Richard Gates, Ann and John.   Henry’s widow Elizabeth died in 1809 and was also buried at Little Shelford on 10th October, 1809 ¹.

John Henry Howard b 1798

---

Kate Howard and her husband George Cole

He married Rose Alma Dellor, daughter of John Thomas Dellor, butcher and Ann Marie Carter, on 16th August 1898 at Clerkenwell ⁵.   In October of the same year, James was moved to the Fire Brigade Headquarters where he served until 1899.   James and Rose had the following children:

Alfred James George Howard b 14.8.1899 St.Saviour, bp 15.8.1899 Southward                                                                                                                                                              m 29.10.1929 All Hallows, Tottenham to Grace Winifred Kille                                                                                                                                    d 1974 Yeovil, Somerset
Lawrence Stanley Dellor Howard b 20.1.1907 Camberwell, bp 17.3.1907 Sothward                                                                                                                                                             m 17.9.1932 Stoke Newington to Doreen May Curtis                                                                                                                                                       d 1988 Christchurch
Ivy Rose Howard b 29.12.1911, bp 17.3.1912 Camberwell                                                                                                                                                                                m 1947 Southend to George Easman                                                                                                                                                                          d 27.12.1998 Exmouth

In 1899 they lived at Southwark Bridge Road, During this time, James was stationed at Shoreditch where he remained until 25th May, 1901.  At the time of the 1901 Census they were living at LCC Fire station, Tabernacle Square, Shoreditch ⁶.  It was then that he resigned from the Fire Service with a ‘Very Good Character and Ability’ record to take up a position as resident Fireman at Salisbury, Wiltshire. No record of this has been found and it is not known how long, if at all he remained in Salisbury, but it must be assumed that he returned to London by 1906 as his second son, Lawrence (Jerry) was born in January 1907.

However, it is known that he left the family on several occasions, causing Rose to go looking for him. It is possible that Rose believed he had gone to America as there is a passenger list from New York to Glasgow arriving on 31st July, 1906 in which a Mrs Howard aged 30 and an Alfred Howard aged 7 are travelling ⁸.

Then in August, 1907 Rose took her children and a nanny (we do not know her name although, according to Alfred, she later died on the RMS Lusitania ) to America to look for him, together with her sister Lily Dellor. A trip at this time would suggest that James may not have been home for the birth of his second son.  The Ellis Island Passenger records (at http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/)  show that Rose arrived in America in August 1907 on the ship Adriatic, together with sons Lawrence aged 5 months and Alfred James George aged 7 years, 10 months, Rose’s sister, Lily Dellor, and Lily’s future husband Charles Westley ⁸.

There are some dubious entries on a couple of passenger lists to New York that my be James including one in September 1907 where a James Howard aged 44 claimed to be an actor.  Which would mean he arrived after Rose!

Then, according to the Incoming passenger lists to the UK (found on www.ancestry.com) I found the return trip for Rose, Alfred, Laurence and Lily and Charles Westley (did they marry in New York?) on the ship Oceanic, sailing from New York to Southampton arriving on 2nd September, 1908; which means that they were in New York for just over a year.   So it appears that Rose may either have had a wasted journey, or had arrived in New York before James. Did she catch up with him and refuse to come home on the same ship or did she not find him at all? 

In either case, it is probable that James was in New York during 1908 at least.  I checked some US Newspaper entries and found one interesting entry: The Buffalo Times dated Tues 10th November, 1908 p6 

LEFT A TRAIL OF BAD CHECKS William Hill Swears Out a warrant for A Man He Charges with Swindling Special to the Buffalo TIMES Niagara Falls. Nov 10 – The police of Buffalo, Rochester and other Western New York cities and towns have been asked to arrest a man giving the name of James W Howard and representing himself to be a fruit and potato buyer. The man is wanted here for passing several alleged bogus checks.  His alleged victims in this city are William Hill, William Raines and William Mooney. The man made his first appearance in this city several weeks ago when he is alleged to have succeeded in buncoing the first named hotel man out of $15. Hill made no complaint and the man fled to St Catherines.  He returned to this city and is alleged to have raised $5 oon a bogus check drawn on the Rochester National Bank. Raines being the victim. There is no such banking institution in that place. Then he is alleged to have raised $12 on another check which was cashed by Mooney and yesterday the police were notified and are now searching for the man. Mr Hill swore out the complaint yesterday.

Although we cannot be 100% certain that this is our James, we would not be at all surprised!! There is still no record of James returning before 1911.  However, he is at home on census night of 1911 as the family are found living at 14 Oglander Road, Camberwell, where he is a Theatre Fireman, Alfred is 11 and Laurence in 4⁶. Their third child, Ivy Rose Howard was born on 29th December, 1911⁵.

Between 1912 and 1914 there is no record of James at all, although during this time he could have been resident fireman at the London Hippodrome, as this newspaper clipping from the Evening News on 11th February, 1915 suggests that until 11th February, 1915 he had been employed as caretaker of 4th Royal Fusiliers headquarters in Shaftsbury Street, Hoxton, and that he was then sent to prison for six weeks, for “stealing military equipment belonging to his Majesty’s Government”. The following year, it appears he left his family for the final time, but where he went is a mystery.   He died on 16th December, 1931 at Lambeth Hospital at the age of 66 ⁵.  He had been working as a hotel plate man and living at 79 Lambeth Walk. My Great uncle Jerry remembered walking past him on one occasion in London before he died. 

 

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James’ eldest son, my grandad, Alfred James George Howard was born in 1899 at Southwark. Not much is known about his early life apart from

Alfred James George Howard was taken c.1918

his trips to America in search of his father, but  in 1916, after his father had finally left for good, he left to join the army. He joined the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment as No. 20382 Private Howard. During the War, he served in both Battles of the Somme in 1916, France and Passchendaele (also known as the third battle of Ypres) in 1917 Flanders, where he was wounded,  and then at the end of the war, in 1918 he signed on again to serve in the fighting of Egypt and Palestine. 

After leaving the army in 1920/21, Alfred worked as a packer for Kensitas cigarettes and then later joined the Post Office.

On October 29th, 1929 he married Grace Winifred Kille(known a Win), daughter of George Kille and Alice Shilton⁵, at All Hallows church, Tottenham. They had a son in 1932 which had been named Alan, but had died after only a few hours. They had my mum, Ann Kathleen two years later in October, 1934. 

 

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DNA Matches 

I have DNA matches with:

Descendants of Harry P Clifton, son of Caroline Lofts Howard and Stephen Payne Clifton – this match is through both Susan Lofts and John Henry Howard; a 4th cousin x1 removed, 

Descendants of James Ryder, son of Mary Lofts (half sister of Susan) and Thomas Ryder; half 5th cousin, and 

Descendants of Margaret Lofts, sister of Susan Loft; a fifth cousin. 

 

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