William Howe was a British general who commanded troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill and replaced General Thomas Gage as commander of British troops in America in October 1775, Howe replaced Gage cause Gage had to return to Britain. He served for many years in Parliament, Howe commanded the British to victory in the Battles of Brooklyn and Brandywine and managed to escape with most of his army intact from the trap set for him at Germantown. Howe's record in North America was marked by the successful capture of both New York City and Philadelphia.

His decision to go to Philadelphia, not to New York, doomed General John Burgoyne's grand plan for the occupation of New York, leading to the British surrender at Saratoga .In May 1778, Howe was replaced by General Henry Clinton and returned to Britain. He married, but had no children.William Howe died in Plymouth.He had been made governor of Berwick-on-Tweed in 1795, and in 1805 became governor of Plymouth, where he died on the 12th of July 1814. With his death the Irish peerage became extinct.