University Archives
Howard family, of Sutton-on-Derwent and Melbourne
The Howard family were ship constructors and merchants. Richard Howard (1714-1787) married the daughter of a Beverley maltster and their son, John Howard (1747-1792), was a Russian merchant dealing in tar and tiles. He married Jane Broadley (1750-1806) the daughter of a wealthy wine merchant. Their third son, Charles Howard (1778-1854), became a tenant of Sir Henry Vavasour at Melbourne near Pocklington before moving to Sutton Farm. He was lieutenant of the Everingham troop of yeomanry and became the first honorary secretary of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. The papers include his farming diaries. He and his wife, Mary, had eight children and the most extensive diaries in the collection are those of their daughter, Mary (b.1810), who married an apothecary, Thomas Cole Peacock. Charles and Mary Howard's youngest child, Joseph Howard (1812-1861), became station master at Darfield. The records of the family passed to his daughter Harriet Jane Howard and then Alyn Guest-Williams, who was a keen genealogist. There are circa 275 items in the collection dating from 1691, including correspondence and genealogical material. [DHD]