On 1 December 1663, Dryden married Lady Elizabeth Howard (died 1714)[39] at St Swithin's, London, and the consent of the parents is noted on the licence, although Lady Elizabeth was then about twenty-five.
The couple met after 1660, when Dryden began lodging in London with her brother, Sir Robert Howard, son of the earl of Berkshire. The marriage lasted until his death, but there is little evidence about how they lived as a couple. A small estate in Wiltshire was settled upon them by her father. The lady's intellect and temper were apparently not good; her husband was treated as an inferior by those of her social status.[40]
Both Dryden and his wife were warmly attached to their children.[41] They had three sons: Charles (1666–1704), John (1668–1701), and Erasmus Henry (1669–1710). Lady Elizabeth Dryden survived her husband, but reportedly lost her wits after becoming a widow.[42] Although some have historically claimed to be from the lineage of John Dryden, his three children, one of whom became a Roman Catholic priest, had no children themselves.[43]
