James Howell (1594-1666) was born in Llangamarch, Brecknock and educated at Hereford Free School and Oxford University. From 1616 he travelled on the Continent and his knowledge gained of foreign languages led to him being used for some diplomatic missions. In 1627 he was elected MP for Richmond Yorkshire. After 1639 he worked as a secret agent for the Lord Deputy of Ireland and as a result in 1643 he was imprisoned until 1651. In 1661 he was made historiographer royal to Charles I and served as secretary to the Privy Council during the English Civil War.
Howell was an author and among his publications are England's Teares an appeal for peace, which was translated into Latin and Dutch and Familiar Epistles in which he describes his experiences and knowledge gained of men and affairs during his life.
A gifted linguist, Howell was fluent in Welch and compiled an English-French-Italian-Spanish dictionary.
