View source for Earl Cowper

{{Short description|Extinct title in the peerage of Great Britain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[Image:LordChancellorWilliamCowper.jpg|thumb|200px|William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper.]]
'''Earl Cowper''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|uː|p|ər}} {{respell|KOO|pər}}) was a title in the [[Peerage of Great Britain]]. It was created in 1718 by [[George I of Great Britain|George I]] for [[William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper|William Cowper, 1st Baron Cowper]], his first [[Lord Chancellor]], with remainder in default of male issue of his own to his younger brother, [[Spencer Cowper]]. Cowper had already been created '''Baron Cowper''' of [[Wingham, Kent|Wingham]] in the County of [[Kent]], in the [[Peerage of England]] on 14 December 1706, with normal remainder to the heirs male of his body, and was made '''Viscount Fordwich''', in the County of Kent, at the same time as he was given the earldom, also Peerage of Great Britain and with similar remainder. He was the great-grandson of William Cowper, who was created a '''Baronet''', of Ratling Court in the County of Kent, in the [[Baronetage of England]] on 4 March 1642. The latter was succeeded by his grandson, the second Baronet. He represented [[Hertford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertford]] in Parliament. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the aforementioned William Cowper, the third Baronet, who was elevated to the peerage as Baron Cowper in 1706 and made Earl Cowper in 1718. In 1706 Lord Cowper married as his second wife Mary Clavering, daughter of John Clavering, of Chopwell, [[County Durham]].

Lord Cowper was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He assumed the additional surname of Clavering. Cowper married Lady Henrietta, younger daughter of [[Henry de Nassau d'Auverquerque, 1st Earl of Grantham]], a relative of the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[House of Orange-Nassau]], and a [[Graf|count]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. On the death of Lady Cowper's elder sister, [[William Elliot of Wells|Lady Frances Elliot]], in 1772, the second Earl's son, the third Earl became Lord Grantham's [[heir general]], and on 31 January 1778 he was created a [[Prince of the Holy Roman Empire]] (''[[Reichsfürst]]'') by the Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]].<ref name=odnb>Hugh Belsey, ‘Cowper, George Nassau Clavering, third Earl Cowper (1738–1789)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/61668, accessed 26 April 2010]</ref> He was allowed by George III to bear this title in Great Britain.

Lord Cowper's second son, the fifth Earl (who succeeded on the early death of his unmarried elder brother), was a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]]. The latter was succeeded by his eldest son, the sixth Earl. He represented [[Canterbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Canterbury]] in Parliament and served as [[Lord Lieutenant of Kent]]. Lord Cowper married the Hon. Anne Florence, daughter of [[Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey]] and 6th [[Baron Lucas]]. In 1859 she succeeded her father as 7th Baroness Lucas. They were both succeeded by their son, the seventh Earl and eighth Baron Lucas. He was a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician and served as [[Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland]] between 1880 and 1882. In 1871 managed to obtain a reversal of the attainder of the Scottish [[Lord Dingwall|Lordship of Dingwall]], which had been under [[attainder]] since 1715, and became the 4th Lord Dingwall as well. Lord Cowper was childless and on his death in 1905 the baronetcy of Ratling Court, the barony of Cowper, the viscountcy, the earldom and the Princely title became extinct. He was succeeded in the barony of Lucas of Crudwell and the lordship of Dingwall by his nephew; see [[Baron Lucas]] and [[Lord Dingwall]] for further history of these titles.

Several other members of the family may also be mentioned. [[Spencer Cowper]], younger son of the second Baronet and brother of the first Earl, was a politician and barrister. He was the father of 1) Ashley Cowper, Clerk of Parliaments; 2) William Cowper, Clerk of Parliaments, the father of a) [[William Cowper (MP)|William Cowper]], [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Hertford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertford]] and b) Spencer Cowper, a [[Lieutenant-General]] in the [[British Army]], who was the father of Henry Cowper, Clerk of the [[House of Lords]]; and 3) Reverend John Cowper, father of the poet [[William Cowper]]. [[William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple]], was the second son of the fifth Earl. The Hon. [[Henry Cowper (died 1887)|Henry Cowper]], second son of the sixth Earl, was [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertfordshire]] for many years.

The family seat of the Earls Cowper was [[Panshanger]] in [[Hertfordshire]]. Other seats included [[Wrest Park]] in [[Bedfordshire]], [[Brocket Hall]] in [[Hertfordshire]], [[Melbourne Hall]] in [[Derbyshire]] and a townhouse at 4 [[St James's Square]].

==Cowper baronets, of Ratling Court (1642)==
*Sir William Cowper, 1st Baronet (1582–1664)
*[[Sir William Cowper, 2nd Baronet]] (1639–1706)
*[[William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper|Sir William Cowper, 3rd Baronet]] (1665–1723) (created '''Baron Cowper''' in 1706 and '''Earl Cowper''' in 1718)

==Earls Cowper (1718)==
[[File:Peter Leopold Nassau Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, attributed to John Hoppner.jpg|thumb|Peter Leopold Nassau Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper (attributed to [[John Hoppner]])]]
[[File:Newton House blue plaque Leeds.jpg|thumb|Newton House Blue Plaque Leeds]]
*[[William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper|William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, 1st Baron Cowper]] (1665–1723)
*[[William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper]] (1709–1764)
*[[George Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper|George Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper]] (1738–1789)
*George Augustus Clavering-Cowper, 4th Earl Cowper (1776–1799)
*Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper (1778–1837)
*[[George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper|George Augustus Frederick Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper]] (1806–1856)
*[[Francis Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper|Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper]] (1834–1905)

== Family tree ==
{{Cowper family tree}}

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Earl.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Cowper Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Argent three martlets Gules on a chief engrailed of the last three annulets Or.
|crest = A lion's jamb erased Or holding a cherry branch Vert fructed Gules.
|supporters = Two dun horses close cropped (except a tuft on the withers) and docked a large blaze down the face a black list down the back and three white feet viz both hind and the near fore foot.
|motto = Tuum Est (It Is Thine) <ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=1869}}</ref>}}

==See also==
*[[Baron Lucas]]
*[[Baron Butler]]
*[[Lord Dingwall]]
*[[Baron Mount Temple]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowper}}
[[Category:Earls Cowper| ]]
[[Category:Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1718]]
[[Category:Leeds Blue Plaques]]
[[Category:Peerages created with special remainders]]
[[Category:Cowper family| ]]