Emily Caroline Catherine Frances Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury (6 November 1810 – 15 October 1872), formerly Lady Emily Cowper, was the wife of

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (28 April 1801 – 1 October 1885), styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was a British Tory politician, philanthropist, and social reformer. He was the eldest son of The 6th Earl of Shaftesbury ...

, and the mother of the 8th earl. The daughter of Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, and his wife Emily, Lady Emily was familiarly known as "Minny". It was widely believed that her natural father was

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

, whom her mother married in 1839, following Earl Cowper's death. Emily was the second child of the Cowpers, after her brother,

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 Melbo ...

. Her younger brothers were

William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple William Francis Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple, PC (13 December 1811 – 16 October 1888), known as William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper") before 1869 and as William Cowper-Temple between 1869 and 1880, was a British Liberal statesman. B ...

, and The Honorable Charles Cowper. Emily's younger sister, Francess, became a viscountess. She married Shaftesbury, then known as Lord Ashley and the heir of

Cropley Ashley-Cooper, 6th Earl of Shaftesbury Cropley Ashley-Cooper, 6th Earl of Shaftesbury Bt (21 December 1768 – 2 June 1851), styled The Honourable Cropley Ashley-Cooper until 1811, was a British politician. He was the father of the social reformer Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of ...

, on 10 June 1830. They had ten children: #

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 8th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 8th Earl of Shaftesbury Bt DL (27 June 1831 – 13 April 1886), styled Lord Ashley between 1851 and 1885, was a British peer. He was the son of The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. Career He was commissioned a cornet in the Do ...

(1831–1886), who married Lady Harriet Chichester, daughter of

George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall George Hamilton Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (10 February 1797 – 20 October 1883), styled Viscount Chichester until 1799 and Earl of Belfast between 1799 and 1844, was an Anglo-Irish landowner, courtier and politician. He served as ...

, and had children. # Hon. (Anthony) Francis Henry Ashley-Cooper (1833–1849) #Hon. (Anthony) Maurice William Ashley-Cooper, third son (1835–1855) #Rt. Hon. Evelyn Melbourne Ashley (1836–1907), who was married twice: first, to Sybella Charlotte Farquhar, daughter of Sir Walter Rockcliffe Farquhar, 3rd Bt., and second, to Lady Alice Elizabeth Cole, daughter of

William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen, FRS (25 January 180712 November 1886) styled by the courtesy title Viscount Cole until 1840, was an Irish palaeontologist and Conservative Member of Parliament. He also served as the first Imp ...

; there was one child from the first marriage #Lady Victoria Elizabeth Ashley, later Lady Templemore (1837–1927), who married Harry Chichester, 2nd Baron Templemore and had children. #Hon (Anthony) Lionel George Ashley-Cooper (1838–1914), who married Frances Elizabeth Leigh and had no children. #Lady Mary Charlotte Ashley-Cooper (1842–1861) #Lady Constance Emily Ashley-Cooper, known as "Conty" (1845–1872) #Lady Edith Florence Ashley-Cooper (1847–1913) #Hon. (Anthony) Cecil Ashley-Cooper (1849–1932) In 1851, Ashley-Cooper succeeded to the earldom of Shaftesbury, at which point his wife became countess. Several of the couple's children suffered ill-health, and the news that Lady Constance's life depended on her going abroad for the winter, as well as the illness of her youngest son, Cecil, caused the countess to fall ill also. The countess died at the couple's town house in

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable re ...

, London, aged 61. Her husband described her as "my earthly mainstay", and as a "wonderful combination of truth, simplicity, joyousness of heart and purity of spirit". Lady Constance died two months later in London.

References

{{reflist 1810 births 1872 deaths

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...

Daughters of British earls Emily Emily