Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle

Howard, Charles, third earl of Carlisle (1669–1738), politician and landowner, was born at Naworth, near Carlisle, the eldest son of Edward, second earl of Carlisle (c.1646–1692), and his wife, Elizabeth (1646–1696), the daughter of Sir William Uvedale of Wickham, Hampshire, and the widow of Sir William Berkeley. He was educated at Morpeth grammar school, then in 1688 embarked on a grand tour which lasted three years and took him to the Netherlands, the German states, and Italy. Before his departure Howard, then Viscount Morpeth, had married (25 July 1688) the thirteen-year-old Lady Anne Capel, the daughter of the first earl of Essex. He represented Morpeth in parliament from 1690 until 23 April 1692, when, on his father's death, he became the third earl. He was soon afterwards appointed to three regional offices: governor of Carlisle Castle (1 March 1693, a position he held until his death), lord lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmorland (28 June 1694, which he held to 29 April 1712), and vice-admiral of Cumberland. A staunch whig and anti-Jacobite, Carlisle used his local standing to influence the result of the 1695 general election in Cumberland and Westmorland, often to the annoyance of neighbouring landed families. In the same year he moved to the family's London residence, Carlisle House, at 20A Soho Square, which became a base for his forays into the capital's political and cultural society. His support for the whig cause put him in favour with William III, and on 23 June 1700 he was appointed gentleman of the king's bedchamber with an annual salary of £1000. On 19 June the following year he became a privy councillor; he also served as deputy earl marshal of England (8 May 1701–26 August 1706) and first lord of the Treasury (30 December 1701–6 May 1702).

Carlisle's ambitions were not in these years limited to political appointment. In 1698 he visited the village of Henderskelfe, near York, which became the site of a new family seat, Castle Howard, designed by his friend and fellow Kit-Cat Club member Sir John Vanbrugh. The house was intended to reflect the importance of the Howard family past and present while also further impressing a monarch interested in architectural projects. Built at what was a considerable expense for a relatively minor peer, it was financed through a combination of revenue from land, loans, and the third earl's successes at the gaming table (this last providing almost one-third of his annual income).

Although he was appointed as a commissioner for the union with Scotland (10 April 1706), Carlisle's political career began to falter under Queen Anne. After her death he served as one of the lords justices of Great Britain until the arrival of George I from Hanover in 1714. In October of the same year he was reappointed lord lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmorland (which office he held until his death), and between 23 May and 11 October 1715 he served for a second time as first lord of the Treasury. Carlisle held a number of other offices under the first two Hanoverians: constable of the Tower of London (16 October 1715–29 December 1722), lord lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets (12 July 1717 to December 1722), constable of Windsor Castle and warden of the forest (1 June 1723 to May 1730), and master of the foxhounds (May 1730). Few of these offices would have satisfied him earlier in his career, but now plagued by gout he was increasingly content to spend more time in seclusion at Castle Howard. He died at Bath on 1 May 1738 and was buried at the parish church of Bulmer, near York, on 14 May. His body was moved on 28 June 1745 to the mausoleum at Castle Howard. He was survived by his five children, two sons and three daughters, including the poet Anne Ingram, and his wife who, noted for her charity work, died aged seventy-eight on 14 October 1752.