William Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Escrick

[1] In 1653 he was a soldier in Oliver Cromwell's life-guards, and a "great preacher" of the anabaptists, but his views were republican, and he took part in the plots of 1655–6.

[further explanation needed] Committed to the Fleet Prison in 1657, he successfully petitioned Richard Cromwell for release in 1658.

In 1660 Sir Edward Hyde found him anxious to serve the king, likely to be useful among the sectaries, and surprisingly well acquainted with recent royalist negotiations.

[2] In 1674 he was discovered in secret correspondence with Holland, spent several months in the Tower of London and was set free only upon making a full confession.

His evidence similarly ruined Sidney, although Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, was fortunate in being tried by his fellow peers, who did not believe Howard's charges against him.