George James Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle (12 August 1843 – 16 April 1911), known as George Howard until 1889, was an English aristocrat, politician and painter. He was the last Earl of Carlisle to own Castle Howard.
Howard was born in London, England, the son of Charles Howard, fifth son of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle. His mother was the Honourable Mary Parke, daughter of James Parke, 1st Baron Wensleydale. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he joined the Cambridge Apostles in 1864. After graduating from Cambridge he studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art in London.
Howard's art teachers were Alphonse Legros and Giovanni Costa, and he belonged to the 'Etruscan School' of painters. He married Rosalind Frances Stanley in 1864, but did not share her campaigning interests, although he supported temperance. He was a friend of, and a patron to, a number of the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, being particularly close to Edward Burne-Jones.
The Howards lived in London in Kensington, in a house at 1 Palace Green, built for them by Arts and Crafts architect Philip Webb in 1870, and at Naworth Castle. Among their visitors at Naworth were Robert Browning, William Ewart Gladstone, Lewis Carroll, Alfred, Lord Tennyson and many others stayed with them at Naworth.William Morris was an intimate friend, and his wallpapers were used in Kensington, at Naworth Castle and at Castle Howard when George inherited it. With Morris and Webb he was one of the founding members of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.