The ancestry of Matthew HOWARD is unknown.  One theory of his ancestry,
the HOWARD-ARUNDELL theory has been found to have no validity.
Another theory, the HOWARD-DOUGLAS theory, is that Matthew was a great
grandson of Thomas HOWARD and Margaret DOUGLAS (niece of King Henry VIII).
This theory is also highly improbable. The foundation of Moss' theory
rests on a false premise, that does not show a union between the HOWARD
and DOUGLAS families as he implied.

Matthew HOWARD's son John HOWARD on his 1695 will affixed a wax seal,
which corresponds with the undifferenced arms of the HOWARD family
of England, from which descended the HOWARD family of the Duke of Norfolk.
The arms were on an escutheon, a bend between six cross crosslets fitchee.

After the Battle of Flodden in 1513, Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, was granted
an augmentation that appeared on the bend as a small shield with the 
demi-lion of the arms of the King of Scotland cut in half with an arrow
through its mouth.  The seal used by John HOWARD did not contain the
augmentation.

Many writers have stated that the use of the arms by John HOWARD showed
that the family was not too distantly related to the Norfolk line.  They
also believed that the MD Howards would not have used the arms, if they did
not have the "legal" right.  

Illegal use of arms was a problem, both in England and America.  The purpose
of the Herald's Visitations in England in the 16th and 17th centuries were
to determine those who did have right to display arms.  Little, if any, effort
was made by colonial governments to enforce laws regarding Heraldry.
Contemporary with when John HOWARD wrote his will, a Mr. Gore, a carriage
painter in Boston created arms for socialites there.27

Undifferenced usage of arms passed at death to a man's eldest son,
other sons being allowed to use a differenced version of the arms. In that
John HOWARD used the undifferenced, pre-1513 arms of the Ducal HOWARDs
his usage was illegal according to the laws of Heraldry.  Whether
the HOWARD family of MD was entitled to use a differenced version of the
Ducal arms is unknown.

Matthew HOWARD and wife Anne had children:
1. Elizabeth HOWARD1 b. ca. 1639; m. Henry RIDGELY;5 d. 16696-16727 Anne
   Arundel Co., MD
2. Matthew HOWARD1 b. ca. 1641;2 m. Sarah DORSEY;8,28 d. between 3 Oct. 1691
   and 12 Jan. 1692 Anne Arundel Co., MD3
3. Cornelius HOWARD1 b. ca. 1643;2 m. Elizabeth;9 d. between 15 April and
   15 Oct. 1680 Anne Arundel Co., MD9
4. John HOWARD1 b. ca. 1645;2 m.1. Susanna (NORWOOD)10 widow of Charles
   STEVENS;5,10 m.2. Eleanor,12 widow of John MACCUBIN;11 d. between 30 Dec. 1695
   and 13 May 1696 Anne Arundel Co., MD12
5. Samuel HOWARD1 b. ca. 1647;2 m. Catherine14 WARNER;13 d. between 28 Feb. 1702
   and 9 Nov. 1703 Anne Arundel Co. MD14
6. Philip HOWARD3 b. ca. 1649;2 m. Ruth BALDWIN;15 d. between 25 July 1701 and
   24 Feb. 1701 [1702] Anne Arundel Co., MD16
7. Ann HOWARD1 b. ca. 1651;2 m. James GRENEFFE;4 living 169029

There are claims that Matthew HOWARD had a daughter Mary who married John
HAMMOND.  The earliest mention I have found of this is by J. D. WARFIELD in
1905.22  He claimed that since Matthew's son Samuel in his will made a bequest
to his "cousin" [nephew] John HAMMOND, Jr., this proved that John HAMMOND, Sr.'s
wife Mary was nee HOWARD, the daughter of Matthew.

The Maryland Calendar of Wills has a confusing abstract of Samuel HOWARD's
will.  The abstract states he left to "cousins John HOWARD, Eliza: NORWOOD,
Sarah BRICE, Hannah HAMMOND, Cornelius and Joseph HOWARD and John HAMMOND, Jr.,
personalty."  The abstract later states that trustees were "cousins John
HOWARD and John HAMMOND, Jr., afsd."23  The abstract is correct (but easily
misread) in that in the recorded will book copy,14 those names through Joseph
HOWARD were called "cousins".  John HAMMOND, Jr., appearing after a second
"and" in the Maryland Calendar of Wills was not included in being
called a "cousin."

In the will book copy, the plural "cousins" was used to refer to John HOWARD
and John HAMMOND, Jr. as trustees.

The original copy of Samuel Howard's wills states:24

"I give to my Cozen John HOWARD Twenty Shillings to buy a Ring.
I give to John HAMMOND Junr: Twenty shillings to buy a Ring.
I give and bequeath to my Cozin Elizabeth NORWOOD Fifteen shillings.
I give to my Cozen Sarah BRICE fifteen shillings to buy a Ring.
I give to my Cozen Hanah HAMMOND fifteen shillings to buy a Ring.
I give to my Cozen Cornelius HOWARD Tenn shillings.
I give to my Cozen Joseph HOWARD Tenn shillings."

While the others are called "cozens" [nephews and nieces] John HAMMOND, Jr.
is not.

Later the will states:
"I leave my Cozen John HOWARD and John HAMMOND, Junr as my Trustees."

The recorded copy in the Maryland wills changed the spellings to "cousin"
in the various phrases, and changed "cousin" to plural in regard to the
two trustees.  The implication from the singular "cozen" in the original
will is that in naming the overseers, only John HOWARD and not John HAMMOND,
Jr. was a "cozen" [nephew] to Samuel HOWARD.

In that the "evidence" as provided by WARFIELD for John HAMMOND having
married Mary HOWARD was based on Samuel HOWARD's will, and that the will
did NOT indicate any relation between John HAMMOND, Jr. and Samuel HOWARD,
it appears WARFIELD was in error.  John HAMMON[D], Sr. married between 26 Oct.
167725 and 1 Nov. 167826 to Mary, the widow of Thomas ROPER.  As John HAMMOND had
sons who married by the early 1690s, Mary (widow ROPER) was apparently a second
wife. The mother of the four sons John HAMMOND named in his will is unknown.

Matthew HOWARD and Sarah DORSEY had children:
1. John HOWARD3 b. say 1666; m. Susannah ROCKHOULD,17 who secondly
   married William CROUCH;18 John d. 6 Dec. 1702;19 bur. St. Margaret's,
   Westminster Parish, Anne Arundel Co., MD19
2. Samuel HOWARD 8b. say 1668; died between 16878 and 16913
3. Matthew HOWARD3; born after 16703 d. ca. 1700 Anne Arundel Co., MD21
4. Sarah HOWARD3 b. say 1672; m.1. John WORTHINGTON;3 m.2. John BRICE20
   16 Dec. 1701;19 d. 21 Dec. 1726;30 bur. Westminster Parish,
   Anne Arundel Co., MD30


1. Alice Granbery Walter, Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Court Records,
   (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1995), 87 cites B:95a. 
   Richard Hall will.  Note: FHL micrfilm 0,032,823 of the original jumps
   from page 93a to next page of 102.
2. Philip was not named in the 1647 will of Richard Hall.  While an Ann was
   named, this may have more likely been Matthew's wife than his daughter. She
   was named immediately after Matthew "the elder." If she was Matthew's
   daughter, and the children were named in order, that would place Ann's birth
   as about 1637.  As Ann (Howard) Greneffe's 4 children were minors when her
   husband wrote his 1686/7 will, (born after 1666), a first child born at about age
   30 seems unrealistic.  Both Philip and Ann were probably born after Richard
   Hall's will. Date estimates for birth were made two years apart for those children
   born before and after the will.
3. Matthew Howard will, Maryland wills 2:222-224 [image 223/412].
4. James Greneff will, Maryland wills 2:215-216 [image 216/412].
   and Maryland wills 7:79-80 [image 84/412] Mentions wife Ann,
   "brother John Howard" and "brother Samuel Howard."
5. Maryland Patents 7, p. 461 [image 236 of 328].
6. Birthdate of son Henry.  John Thomas Gurney, III, Cemetery Inscriptions
   of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, (Chelsea, Mich: Bookcrafters, Inc,
   1982), 1:88.
7. Henry Ridgley Petition to Maryland Chancery Court and associated
   depositions (1727), Rachel Freeborne Depostition, Tiverton, Devon,
   England, Baptist Church Records 1695-1915, FHL microfilm 1,526,426,
   item 3.
   Her 1727 deposition stated that Alice Skinner had come to MD about 56
   years ago, and married within a year to Henry Ridgely.  Henry's first
   wife Elizabeth Howard had to be deceased by that date.
8. Joshua Dorsey will, Maryland wills 6:8, [image 12/423].
   He made bequests to "cousins" (i.e. nephews) John, Samuel and Matthew
   Howard, [children of Matthew Howard.]
9. Cornelius Howard will, Maryland wills 2:107-110 [image 108/412].
10. Maryland Patents 5, p. 485 [image 248 of 328].
11. John Maccubin will, Maryland wills 4:207-208 [image 209/328].
    Eleanor Howard will, Maryland wills 13:235-237 [image 237/745].
12. John Howard will, Maryland wills 7:164-166 [image 169/412].
13. James Warner will, Maryland wills 1:618-619 [image 618/640].
14. Samuel Howard will, Maryland wills 11:462-463 [image 481/501].
15. John Baldwin will, Maryland wills 4:43-44 [image 45/328].
16. Phillip Howard will, Maryland wills 11:157-159 [image 172/501].
17. Mary Rockhold will, Maryland wills 3:248-249 [image 250/370].
18. John Howard account, Maryland inventories and accounts 25:61-62.
19. St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Parish, Anne Arundel Co, MD, p. 132.
20. Matthew Howard, Sr., account, Maryland inventories and accounts 25:54-55.
21. Matthew Howard (Jr.) account, Maryland inventories and accounts 20:86.
22. J. D. Warfield, The Founders of Anne Arundell and Howard Counties, Maryland,
    (Baltimore: Kohn & Pollock, 1905), pp. 70-71, 179 [images 71-72, 180 of 601].
23. Jane Baldwin, The Maryland Calendar of Wills, (Baltimore, Maryland:
    Kohn & Pollock, Inc., 1907), Volume 3, p. 25 [image 61 of 680].
24. Samuel Howard original Anne Arundel County, Maryland will Box H, folder 116,
    Maryland State Archives.
25. Thomas Roper will, Maryland wills 5:313-315 [image 315/394].
26. Petition regarding Thomas Roper estate, Maryland Testamentary Proceedings 10:315.
27. Joseph C. Wolf, Heraldry Lecture.
28. Maryland Patents 10, p. 499 [image 296 of 369].
29. James Greeniffe inventory, Maryland Inventories and Accounts 11A:22-22 1/2.
30. St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Parish, Anne Arundel Co, MD, p. 136.