William Howard (judge)


Sir William Howard, known as William of Wiggenhall, was an English lawyer who became a justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He is known also as the earliest ancestor of the male line of the House of Howard established by solid historical research.

Life

His family was from the neighbourhood of Lynn, Norfolk. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography identifies Wiggenhall as Howard's probable birthplace. He was acting as an attorney for Norfolk clients by the later 1270s.
Howard was a serjeant in the mid-1280s and acted in the eyre courts. He acted as an assize justice from 1293, and a common pleas justice from 1297.
Records show that Howard attended parliament in 1302, and was on a trailbaston circuit in 1307. He died by 24 August 1308, when his replacement as assize justice was recorded. He was buried at East Winch, where he owned the manor.

Family

Howard was twice married, with both wives being named Alice. His son and heir John is regarded as from his first marriage.