Kenelm Charles Everard Digby Pepys, 8th Earl of Cottenham (27 November 1948 – 20 October 2000) was an English peer, baronet,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, equestrian, business man, and designer. Known until 1968 as Viscount Crowhurst, he was later known to his friends as Charlie Cottenham. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1969 until 1999. The son of

Digby Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham John Digby Thomas Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham (14 June 1907 – 12 May 1968) was an English peer, baronet, business man, and breeder of Thoroughbred horses. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1943 until his death in 1968. The third son of ...

, and his wife Lady Angela Larnach-Nevill, a daughter of

Guy Larnach-Nevill, 4th Marquess of Abergavenny Major Guy Temple Montacute Larnach-Nevill, 4th Marquess of Abergavenny, JP, DL (15 July 1883 – 30 March 1954) was a British peer. Guy was the eldest son of Lord George Montacute Nevill and his wife Florence Mary Soanes. He married Isabel Ne ...

, he was a second cousin seven times removed of the diarist

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

and was educated at Eton College. On 12 May 1968, aged nineteen, he succeeded his father as

Earl of Cottenham Earl of Cottenham (), of Cottenham in the County of Cambridge, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1850 for the prominent lawyer and Whig politician Charles Pepys, 1st Baron Cottenham. ) He served as Lord Ch ...

, Viscount Crowhurst, of Crowhurst, Surrey, Baron Cottenham, of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, and as a Baronet, of Wimpole Street. The family seat was then at Priory Manor, near Kington St Michael, Wiltshire.Peter W. Hammond, ed., '' The Complete Peerage'', Vol. XIV (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1998), p. 210"Cottenham 8th Earl of" in Jonathan Parker, ed., '' Debrett's People of Today'' (1995), p. 440 On 15 March 1975 Cottenham married Sarah Lombard-Hobson, daughter of Captain Samuel Richard Le Hunte Lombard-Hobson

CVO CVO may refer to: Science and technology * Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington, US * Chief veterinary officer, the head of a veterinary authority * Circumventricular organs, positioned around the ventricular system of the brain * Co ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

RN, of

Sherrington Sherrington is a small village and civil parish on the River Wylye in Wiltshire, England. The part of the Great Ridge Wood known as Snailcreep Hanging lies entirely within Sherrington. Location Sherrington is near the larger village of Codfor ...

.'' Burke's Peerage'', Vol. 1 (2003), p. 911 Cottenham played cricket for Eton and for Northamptonshire Second XI as a fast bowler.'' Wisden'' 2001, p. 1579. He toured the West Indies in 1970 with the Duke of Norfolk's XI. He was a three day eventer, competing at Badminton and

Burghley Horse Trials The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is an annual three-day event held at Burghley House near Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, currently in early September. Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is classified by the FEI as one of the six leading th ...

, and representing Great Britain overseas. He gave up competing after his wife had a bad fall. In 1984, after retiring from eventing, Cottenham lent his yard at Priory Manor to his friend Mark Todd, who brought with him his horse Charisma. Mark Todd, ''Second Chance: The Autobiography'' (2012)
pp. 30–31
/ref> They won an Olympic Gold Medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. Cottenham ran a successful chain of English-language schools. He and his wife had three children: *Lady Georgina Marye Pepys (born 1981) *Mark John Henry Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham (born 1983) *Sam Richard Pepys (born 1986) In 2007, Cottenham's widow married Richard George Ford, a kinsman of

Viscount Hampden Viscount Hampden is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of Great Britain when the diplomat and politician Robert Hampde ...

.''Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage 2019'' ( Debrett's, 2019)
p. 2173
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottenham, Charles Pepys, 8th Earl of 1948 births 2000 deaths British event riders Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College People from Wiltshire Pepys family Cottenham