Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet (18 February 1755 – 6 January 1837) was a

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

-born Englishman who prospered as an official of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

(EIC) and became a politician. He sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for most of the period between 1802 and 1837, sitting for five different constituencies.

Life and career

He was born in

Bishop's Hull Bishop's Hull is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in the western suburbs of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. It includes the areas of Rumwell, Rumwell Park, Roughmoor and Longaller and is close to the ...

, Somerset, the son of John Cockerell and Frances, daughter of John Jackson of

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

. Through his mother Cockerell was the great-great nephew 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 ...

. After education at Sharpe's school in

Bromley-by-Bow Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London. The area is distinct from Bow, which li ...

and later

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

between 1767 and 1769, Cockerell arrived in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, India in 1776 as a writer (

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

) for the EIC's surveyor-general's office. He became friends with

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

, the first Governor-General of India and

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of M ...

, brother of the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

. Whilst employed by the EIC he was also a partner and later principal of the

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

bank of Cockerell, Trail & Co. During the

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the British East India Company and the Hyderabad Deccan in 1798–99. This was the final conflict of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. The British captured ...

(1798-9), Cockerell assisted Wellesley as commander of the civil service military force and through financial arrangements with the Bengal government. As a result of these services he was raised to the

Baronetage of England Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) King James I ...

on 25 September 1809. 2016 Sezincote House

In 1801 he returned to England to live at

Sezincote House Sezincote House (pronounced ''seas in coat'') is the centre of a country estate in the civil parish of Sezincote, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. The house was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, built in 1805, and is a notable exam ...

in Gloucestershire, which he had inherited from his elder brother, John. He then commissioned another brother,

Samuel Pepys Cockerell Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1753–1827) was an English architect. He was a son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the elder brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezinc ...

, to build him a house "in the Indian style". Whilst remaining as an agent for the EIC, Cockerell was introduced as a Member of Parliament for

Tregony Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office (now ...

Richard Barwell Richard Barwell (8 October 1741 – 2 September 1804) was an early trader with the East India Company and amassed one of the largest fortunes in early British India. Barwell was the son of William Barwell, governor of Bengal in 1748, and afterwa ...

, whom he had known in India. He was a silent supporter of

Henry Addington Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, (30 May 175715 February 1844) was an English Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804. Addington is best known for obtaining the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, an ...

's ministry and considered doubtful by

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

on the latter's reelection in 1804. After failing to secure a seat in the 1806 Election, Cockerell was returned to Parliament for

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 c ...

in January 1807. He was subsequently MP for

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill, Surrey, Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with Middle Ages, medieval buildings and is mostly on a ...

from 1809 to 1812, Seaford from 1816 to 1818 and for

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

from 1819 to 1837. Cockerell served as Mayor of Evesham from 1810 to 1833.

Personal life

Harriet Rushout by Andrew Plimer (page 92 crop)

On 11 March 1789 in Calcutta, he married Maria-Tryphena (d. 8 Oct. 1789), daughter of Sir Charles William Blunt, 3rd Baronet of the Blunt baronets. He married secondly on 13 February 1808 the Honourable Harriet Rushout, daughter of John Rushout, 1st Baron Northwick. The couple had a son, Charles Rushout Cockerell (b.1809), who succeeded to the baronetcy and two daughters, Harriet-Anne and Elizabeth Maria (d.1832). Charles Rushout Cockerell married the Honourable Cecilia-Olivia, daughter of

Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley PC, DL (22 December 1780 – 16 April 1833), was a British peer and Whig politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen Pensioners under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1833. Background Foley ...

in 1834.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockerell, Charles 1755 births 1837 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies British East India Company civil servants UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837