William Howard (judge)

Sir William Howard (by 1225 – 1308) of East Winch[2] and Wiggenhall in Norfolk, England, was a lawyer who became a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.

[3] He is the founder[4] and earliest confirmed male-line ancestor of the House of Howard (Dukes of Norfolk), as is firmly established by historical research.

If Dugdale was correct a young William Howard left Lancashire to settle in Norfolk and practise as a lawyer perhaps at the behest of his father-in-law.

He is depicted in a surviving stained glass window, circa 1500, in Long Melford Church in Suffolk, dressed in the robes of a judge.

Despite 15th century claims by the Howard family[9] that he became Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, there is no surviving evidence to support that assertion.

Sir William Howard in judge's robes. 1637 drawing by Henry Lilly, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant , of stained glass portrait formerly in East Winch Church
Stained glass (c.1485/1509 [ 1 ] ) in Long Melford Church in Suffolk , showing William Howard (d.1308) at far left, dressed in the robes of a judge, with his arms above, with two other later judges (Richard Pigot (d.1483) Judge & Sergeant-at-Law to King Edward IV ; John Haugh (d.1489))
Arms of Sir William Howard (Howard unaugmented): Gules, a bend between six cross-crosslets fitchy argent