Caradoc (Cradock), John Hobart (1799–1873), 2nd Baron Howden , diplomat, soldier, and MP, was born 11 October 1799 at St Stephen's Green, Dublin, the only son among three children of John Francis Caradoc (qv), quartermaster-general of Ireland and later 1st Baron Howden, and his wife Theodosia, daughter of John Meade, 1st earl of Clanwilliam. Educated at Eton (1812–15), he became an ensign in the Grenadier Guards in July 1815 and an ADC to Wellington (qv) in Paris (1817–18). He later served as ADC to Marshal William Beresford (qv) in Lisbon, and in 1820 to Sir Thomas Maitland, governor of Malta. In 1824 he moved to the diplomatic service and was appointed attaché at Berlin (1824) and then at Paris (1825). After failing in 1827 to prevent the Egyptians from intervening in the Greek war of independence, he joined the Royal Navy's Mediterranean fleet as military commissioner and was wounded at the battle of Navarino (20 October 1827). In 1829 he was appointed military commissioner to the Paris embassy. Renowned in Parisian society for his elegant dress and manners, he was known as ‘le beau Caradoc’ and in January 1830 he married a celebrated Russian beauty, Catherine Skavronsky (d. 1857), the great-niece of Prince Potemkin and widow of Gen. Prince Bagration who had died at Borodino. She was considerably older than him and they separated after a few years.
Elected MP for Dundalk (1830–31), he voted with the whigs for parliamentary reform, but found political life uncongenial and did not stand for reelection in 1831. He served as military commissioner to the French and Spanish armies in the early 1830s, and was wounded at the siege of Antwerp in 1832. In 1839 he succeeded his father as Baron Howden and returned to England. He was promoted colonel in 1841 and made equerry to the duchess of Kent, a position he held for twenty years. His income was modest, and his social distinction derived from his charm and elegance rather than wealth; he was often in financial difficulties and in 1850 he sold his estates at Grimston, Yorkshire, and Cradockstown, Co. Kildare. He served as ambassador to Brazil (1847–50) and Spain (1850–58) and played an important part in restoring diplomatic relations with Spain after a suspension of two years, his obvious affection for the Spanish language and culture winning over his hosts. While in Madrid he converted from anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. In March 1858 he retired to Casa Caradoc, at Saint-Étienne, near Bayonne; he formally retired from the army in 1861 with the rank of general. Trapped in Paris during the siege of 1870, he supplied the British government with daily reports by balloon post. He received French, Spanish, Russian, Greek, Belgian, and British honours, including KH (1830), KCB (1852), and GCB (1858). He died at Bayonne 9 October 1873 and was buried with military honours in the grounds of Casa Caradoc. He had no children, and his title became extinct on his death. A collection of his papers is held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.