Henry Frederick Howard, 15th Earl of ArundelPC(Ire) (15 August 1608 – 17 April 1652), styled Lord Maltravers until 1640, and Baron Mowbray from 1640 until 1652, was an English nobleman, chiefly remembered for his role in the development of the rule against perpetuities.
After his father's death in 1646, he became Earl of Arundel and the titular head of the Howard family. He had been due to inherit his mother's peerage (Baron Furnivall), but he pre-deceased her and upon her death in 1654 it was inherited by his eldest son Thomas.
Henry sought to control the succession to his property after his death. Toward that end, he placed in his will a shifting executory limitation so that title to some property would pass to his eldest son (who was mentally deficient) and then to his second son, and title to other property would pass to his second son, and then to his fourth son. The estate plan also included provisions for shifting the titles many generations later if certain conditions should occur.
When his second son, Henry, succeeded to the elder brother's property, he did not want to pass the other property to his younger brother, Charles. Charles sued to enforce his interest, and the court (in this instance, the House of Lords) held that such a shifting condition could not exist indefinitely. The judges believed that tying up property too long beyond the lives of people living at the time was wrong, although the exact period was not determined for another 150 years.[3]
Lord Arundel married Lady Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of Esme Stuart, 3rd Duke of Lennox, on 7 March 1626. They had nine sons (10 on list below?) and three daughters:
Edward Howard (1637–1691), married Anne Wilbraham, had issue.
Francis Howard (1640–1683), died in Geele, Belgium as stated in his brother Cardinal Philip Howard's Biography.
Bernard Howard of Glossop (1641–1717), married Catherine Tattershall (died 1727, sister of his brother Charles's wife Mary) and had issue, including Bernard Howard II of Glossop, who married Anne Roper (died 1744), had issue, including Henry Howard of Glossop and Sheffield, who married Juliana Molyneux, had issue, including Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk (from who all subsequent Dukes of Norfolk descend) and Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard;
Esme Howard (1645–1728), had one daughter, who died unmarried
^G. R. Batho, Calendar of Talbot Papers, vol. 2 (HMSO, 1971), p. 336: Edmund Lodge, Illustrations of British History, vol. 3, p. 238: Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1607-1610, vol. 11 (London, 1904), p. 178 no. 340.
