The Silvy daybooks misidentify the sitter as 'the Earl of Jermyn M.P.'

Charles John Howard was born on 7 November 1804, the son of Thomas Howard, 16th Earl of Howard and the Hon. Elizabeth Jane (née Dutton), eldest daughter of James, 1st Lord Sherborne. On 2 September 1829 he married Isabella Catherine Howard, daughter of Lord Henry Thomas Howard-Molyneaux-Howard.

He succeeded his father on 4 December 1851, becoming the 17th Earl of Suffolk and the 10th Earl of Berkshire.

He died on 14 August 1876, at the age of 71, and was succeeded by his son Henry Charles Howard.