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 Earl Cowper
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
13 November 1834 – 17 December 1834
MonarchWilliam IV
Prime Ministerthe Viscount Melbourne
Preceded bySir George Shee, Bt
Succeeded byViscount Mahon
Personal details
Born26 June 1806
Died15 April 1856 (1856-04-16) (aged 49)
NationalityBritish
Political partyWhig
SpouseLady Anne Florence de Grey (d. 1880)
Children6
Parent(s)Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper
Emily Lamb

Background

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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.

Military career

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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 Regular army on 6 March 1835.[4] However, in 1833 he had accepted command of a Troop in the part-time South Hertfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry with the rank of captain, which he held until his resignation in April 1832.[5]

Political career

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Cowper entered the House of Commons for Canterbury in the 1830 general election,[6] 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.[7]

Family

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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;

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

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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) [8]

References

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  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. ^ Lt-Col J.D. Sainsbury, The Hertfordshire Yeomanry: An Illustrated History 1794–1920, Welwyn: Hart Books/Hertfordshire Yeomanry and Artillery Historical Trust, 1994, ISBN 0-948527-03-X, pp. 44–8.
  6. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)
  7. ^ leighrayment.com Peerage: Cowper to Cutts of Gowran[usurped]
  8. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1869.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Canterbury
1830–1835
With: Richard Watson
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
November–December 1834
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord-Lieutenant of Kent
1846–1856
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Peter Clavering-Cowper
Earl Cowper
1837–1856
Succeeded by