William Stafford-Howard, 3rd Earl of Stafford

William Matthias Stafford-Howard, 3rd Earl of Stafford, de jure 4th Baron Stafford FRS (24 February 1719 – 28 February 1751) was an English peer.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Stafford FRS
Born	William Matthias Stafford-Howard (1719-02-24)24 February 1719
Died	28 February 1751(1751-02-28) (aged 32)
Spouse	Henrietta Cantillon ​ ​ (m. 1743)​
Parent(s)	William Stafford-Howard, 2nd Earl of Stafford Anne Holman
Relatives	Guy Auguste de Rohan-Chabot (brother-in-law)

Early life

Portrait of his father, the 2nd Earl of Stafford, by Godfrey Kneller, 1730

Stafford-Howard was born on 24 February 1719. He was the only son of Anne Holman (d. 1725)^[1] and William Stafford-Howard, 2nd Earl of Stafford, who were first cousins. His younger sisters were Lady Mary Stafford-Howard (who married, as his second wife, Count Guy Auguste de Rohan-Chabot, son of Louis, Duke of Rohan),^[2] Lady Anastasia Stafford-Howard and Lady Anne Stafford-Howard, who both became nuns.^[3][4]

His paternal grandparents were the former Mary Southcote (a daughter of Sir John Southcote)^[5] and John Stafford-Howard (a son of the 1st Viscount Stafford),^[6] who served as King James II's Ambassador to King Louis XIV when the former was exiled at Saint-Germain. After the King's death, his father served as vice-chamberlain to the King's widow, Queen Mary.^[7] Among his extended family was aunt Mary Stafford-Howard (wife of Francis Plowden, MP for Bannow)^[8] and uncle John Stafford-Howard. His maternal grandparents were George Holman of Warkworth, Northamptonshire and Anastasia Howard (a daughter of the 1st Viscount Stafford).^[5]

Career

On the death of his father,^[a] in January 1734, he succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Stafford. He also succeeded as the de jure 4th Baron Stafford of Stafford Castle.^[5]

In 1743, Lord Stafford was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society.^[7][10] He inherited a number of English estates from his Holman family members, which he sold in 1749 to Edward Greenly of Doctors' Commons.^[1]

Personal life

Portrait of his wife, Henrietta Diana, Dowager Countess of Stafford, by Allan Ramsay, 1759

In 1743, he married Henrietta Diana Cantillon, daughter of economist Richard Cantillon and Mary O'Mahony (a daughter of Gen. Count Daniel O'Mahony).^[11]

Lord Stafford died, without legitimate issue, on 28 February 1751. His widow Henrietta married Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham.^[5][b] Upon the death of his uncle in 1762, the earldom became extinct but the barony of Stafford reverted to Anastasia Stafford-Howard as senior heir general of William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford and his wife Mary Howard, Countess of Stafford.^[13]

References

Notes

1. His father had succeeded to the title from his uncle, Henry Stafford-Howard, 1st Earl of Stafford, who had married Claude-Charlotte, daughter of Philibert de Gramont and his wife, Elizabeth (a daughter of Sir George Hamilton), but died without issue.^[9]
2. From her second marriage, Henrietta was the mother of a daughter, Lady Henrietta Maxwell, who married the Irish politician Denis Daly.^[12]

Sources

1. Duncumb, John; Cooke, William Henry (1897). Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford. In Continuation of Duncumb's History. E.G. Wright. p. 60. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
2. Sainte-Marie, Anselme de (1879). Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France,... (in French). Firmin Didot frères, fils et Cie. p. 232. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
3. The Diary of the 'Blue Nuns': Or Order of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, at Paris. 1658-1810. Priv print. for the Society by J. Whitehead & son, Leeds. 1910. p. 415. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
4. "Case of Lady Anastasia Stafford-Howard and Sir William Jerningham (2 copies); with..." discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. 1800. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
5. bart.), sir William Jerningham (6th (1807). Papers relative to the two baronies of Stafford, claimed by sir William Jerningham ... on the death of ... lady Anastasia Stafford Howard. (i. Petition of sir William Jerningham ... to the crown, claiming both the old barony ... and the new barony of Stafford. ii. Opinion and argument of mr. Hargrave in 1800 in support of lady Anastasia Stafford Howard's right to the new barony of Stafford). p. 27. Retrieved 17 July 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. "Stafford-Howard family records". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
7. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, p. 3707.
8. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999, p. 2257.
9. "Howard, William, Viscount Stafford (1612–1680), nobleman". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13948. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 2020-02-18. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
10. Doyle, James Edmund (1886). The Official Baronage of England: Showing the Succession, Dignities, and Offices of Every Peer from 1066 to 1885, with Sixteen Hundred Illustrations. Longmans, Green. p. 394. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
11. "Henrietta Diana (1728–1761), Dowager Countess of Stafford". artuk.org. Art UK. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
12. Cantillon, Richard (28 July 2017). Essay on the Nature of Commerce in General. Routledge. p. 264. ISBN 978-1-351-31150-2. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
13. Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1830. p. 722. Retrieved 17 July 2024.

External links

• Stafford-Howard family records at The National Archives

Peerage of England
Preceded by William Stafford-Howard	Earl of Stafford 1734–1751	Succeeded by John Paul Stafford-Howard