Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Berkshire (1619 – 12 April 1706) was an English peer, styled Hon. Thomas Howard until 1679. He was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Catherine Knyvet....

.

Howard represented Wallingford

Wallingford (UK Parliament constituency)

Wallingford was a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was a parliamentary borough created in 1295, centred on the market town Wallingford in Berkshire . It used to return two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons; this was cut to one in 1832, and...

 in Parliament from 1640 to 1646. He was colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 of a regiment of Royalist horse in 1643, and subsequently a brigadier

Brigadier

Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

. In 1661, after the English Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

, he was rewarded with the sinecure office of Clerk of the Markets of the Household. Thomas inherited the earldom after the death of his childless brother, Charles

Charles Howard, 2nd Earl of Berkshire

Charles Howard, 2nd Earl of Berkshire KB was an English peer, styled Viscount Andover from 1626 to 1669, the son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire and his wife Lady Elizabeth Cecil.Howard was created a Knight of the Bath in 1626...

 in 1679. He was succeeded by his great-nephew Henry Howard

Henry Howard, 11th Earl of Suffolk

Henry Bowes Howard, 11th Earl of Suffolk, 4th Earl of Berkshire was an English peer.He was the son of Craven Howard and Mary Bowes...

, who then united the earldoms of Suffolk and Berkshire.

He was reputed to have fathered at least one illegitimate child, Moll Davies, who became an actress and mistress to Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

, bearing him a daughter, Lady Mary Tudor

Lady Mary Tudor

Lady Mary Tudor was the illegitimate daughter of Charles II of England by his mistress, the actress and singer Mary 'Moll' Davis, a celebrated rival of Nell Gwynn, King Charles' London-born mistress who was also an actress...

 who married the Earl of Derwentwater

Earl of Derwentwater

Earl of Derwentwater was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1688 for Sir Francis Radclyffe, 3rd Baronet. He was made Baron Tyndale, of Tyndale in the County of Northumberland, and Viscount Radclyffe and Langley at the same time, also in the Peerage of England. He was succeeded by...

. Moll Davis was born around 1648 in Westminster and was said by Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...

, the famous diarist, to be "a bastard of Collonell Howard, my Lord Barkeshire" - probably meaning Thomas Howard, third Earl of Berkshire.