William Howley

Born in Ropely, Hampshire to Willam and Mary Howley. His father was a vicar of Bishop’s Sutton and Ropely and his mother was the daughter of a wine merchant. While at Oxford he was tutor to William II of the Netherlands and in 1792 became chaplain to the Marquess of Abercorn who significantly aided in his career progression. He and his wife had five children together two sons and three daughters. He became Archbishop of Canterbury after the death of Charles Manners-Sutton in 1828, he was strongly opposed to Catholic emancipation. Howley was concerned that if the church did not reform itself the government would do so for them and so was deeply invested in the Ecclesiastical Commission of the 1830’s and 40’s.