Naval officer; born in
England, March 19, 1725; was educated at
Westminster and
Eton; and succeeded to the Irish viscounty and the family estate on the death of his brother,
George Augustus Howe, killed near
Ticonderoga in 1758.
In 1739 he was a midshipman in Anson's fleet, and was made post-captain for gallantry in 1745.
He entered Parliament in 1757, and in 1765 was made treasurer of the
British navy.
In October, 1770, he was promoted to
rearadmiral of the blue, and in 1776 was sent to command the British fleet on the American station, charged with a commission, jointly with his brother,
William Howe, to make peace with or war upon the
Americans.
They failed to secure peace, and made war. After leaving the
Delaware with his fleet, in 1778, he had an encounter off
Rhode Island with a French fleet, under the
Count d'estaing, when he disappeared from the
American waters.
In 1782 he was made admiral of the blue, and created an English viscount; and in September of that year he relieved
Gibraltar, and received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament.
In 1787 he was made admiral of the white, and in August the next year was raised to an earldom.
Because of a complete victory over the
French, which he obtained in 1794, he was rewarded with a gold medal, the Order of the Garter, and the commission of admiral of the fleet, which he resigned in 1797.. His last service in the royal navy was persuading mutineers at
Spithead to return to duty.
He died in
England, Aug. 5, 1799.
In St. Paul's Cathedral a fine monument was erected to the memory of
Admiral Howe.
