George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper

George Augustus Frederick Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper (26 June 1806 – 15 April 1856), styled Viscount Fordwich until 1837, was a British Whig politician. He served briefly as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under his uncle Lord Melbourne in 1834.

The Right Honourable The Earl Cowper
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 13 November 1834 – 17 December 1834
Monarch	William IV
Prime Minister	the Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	Sir George Shee, Bt
Succeeded by	Viscount Mahon
Personal details
Born	26 June 1806
Died	15 April 1856 (aged 49)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig
Spouse(s)	Lady Anne Florence de Grey (d. 1880)
Children	6
Parents	Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper Emily Lamb

Background

Cowper was the eldest son of Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, and his wife Emily Lamb, daughter of Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne, sister of Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, and a leading figure in Regency society. William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple, was his younger brother. His mother married as her second husband the future Prime Minister Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, in 1839.

He was commissioned a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards on 28 April 1827. On 27 February 1830, he purchased a lieutenancy in the regiment.[1] He retired on the half-pay of the New South Wales Veteran Companies in March 1831,[2] but exchanged into a lieutenancy in the 31st Regiment of Foot on 13 February 1835.[3] He retired from the army on 6 March 1835.[4]

Political career

Cowper entered the House of Commons for Canterbury in the 1830 general election,[5] and served briefly under his uncle Lord Melbourne as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between November and December 1834. He lost his seat in Parliament in the 1835 general election. Two years later he succeeded his father in the earldom. Between 1846 and 1856 he served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent.[6]

Family

Lord Cowper married Lady Anne Florence de Grey (who after her husband's death succeeded as sixth Baroness Lucas of Crudwell), daughter of Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, in 1833. They had two sons and four daughters;

• Lady Henrietta Emily Mary Cowper (d.1853)
• Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper (1834–1905)
• The Honourable Henry Frederick Cowper (1836–1887)
• Lady Florence Amabel Cowper (1837–1886), married the Honourable Auberon Herbert in 1871.
• Lady Adine Eliza Anne Cowper (1840–1868), married the Honourable Julian Fane in 1866.
• Lady Amabel Frederica Henrietta Cowper (1846–1906), married Lord Walter Kerr in 1873.

Lord Cowper died in April 1856, aged 49, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son Francis. Lady Cowper died in 1880.

Arms

Coat of arms of George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper

Crest A lion's jamb erased Or holding a cherry branch Vert fructed Gules. Escutcheon Argent three martlets Gules on a chief engrailed of the last three annulets Or. 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) [7]

References

1. "No. 18664". The London Gazette. 16 March 1830. p. 533.
2. "No. 18784". The London Gazette. 15 March 1831. p. 494.
3. "No. 19240". The London Gazette. 13 February 1835. p. 261.
4. "No. 19246". The London Gazette. 6 March 1835. p. 414.
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)
6. leighrayment.com Peerage: Cowper to Cutts of Gowran
7. Debrett's Peerage. 1869.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl Cowper