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Sir John Stepney Cowell-Stepney, 1st Baronet, KH (1791–1877) was a British
on 5 November 1854. A large memorial to him and the other Coldstream officers killed in the battle was erected in St Paul's Cathedral; a smaller version of it was placed in Llanelli parish church .
Sir John Stepney Cowell-Stepney, 1st Baronet, KH (1791–1877) was a British soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
, landowner and politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He was the elder of the two sons of General Andrew Cowell (d. 1821), originally of Coleshill, Buckinghamshire
Coleshill (formerly Stoke) is a village and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is south of Amersham and north of Beaconsfield.
History
The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'Coll's hill', ...
, and his wife Maria Justina (d. 1821), youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Stepney, 7th baronet of Prendergast, Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...
, and Llanelly House
Llanelly House (also spelled Llanelli House) is one of the most notable historic properties in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales—an excellent example of an early-18th-century Georgian town house. It had been described as "the most outstanding d ...
, Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...
. He was known as ohn Ohn is a Burmese name, used by people from Myanmar. Notable people with the name include:
* Daw Ohn (1913–2003), Burmese professor in Pali
* Ohn Gyaw (born 1932), Burmese Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1998
* Ohn Kyaing (born 1944), Bur ...
Stepney Cowell until he inherited the Stepney family's estates in 1857 under the terms of the will of his uncle, Sir John Stepney, 8th baronet, when he changed the family's name to Cowell-Stepney .
Military career and personal life
Cowell joined his father's regiment, theColdstream Guards
The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...
, and fought in the Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
at Fuentes de Oñoro
Fuentes de Oñoro is a village and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Salamanca (province), Salamanca, western Spain, part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It is located from the ...
, Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district.
The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right bank ...
, Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
and Vittoria. Cowell subsequently wrote a memoir of his experiences in the war . He fought at the Battle of Quatre Bras
The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought on 16 June 1815, as a preliminary engagement to the decisive Battle of Waterloo that occurred two days later. The battle took place near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras and was contested between ele ...
in 1815 but an attack of dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
led him to miss the Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
. Peacetime postings included France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Gibraltar
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and Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1830.
Cowell married Mary Anne Annesley at Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
on 5 July 1820. She was the daughter of the Hon. Robert Annesley, and they had one son, William Frederick Ross CowellStepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
born on 31 May 1821. However, Mary Anne died at Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
on 9 November 1821. On 19 November 1823 Cowell married Euphemia Jemima Murray (d. 1874), daughter of John Murray of Glenalla, Co. Donegal and sister of General Freeman Murray
General Freeman Murray CB (16 November 1804 – 14 April 1885) was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding Eastern District.
Murray was born in France, the son of General John Murray and his second wife, Canadian Maria P ...
, governor of Bermuda
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, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
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1854-9 and 1860–1. They had two sons, ames CharlesMurray Cowell (1824–54) and Sir mile AlgernonArthur [KeppelCowell-Stepney, 2nd baronet">eppel.html" ;"title="mile AlgernonArthur mile AlgernonArthur [KeppelCowell-Stepney, 2nd baronet (1834-1909). Murray Cowell served as a page to both William IV of the United Kingdom">King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
and Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
before following his father into the Coldstream Guards. He was swiftly promoted to Colonel but was killed at Battle of Inkerman">Inkerman
Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is ''de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but ''de jure'' within Ukraine. It lies 5 ...Inheritance and political career
In December 1857 Cowell inherited the substantial Carmarthenshire estates of the Stepney family, having been engaged in litigation about it for many years with the former incumbents, the Chambers family. He chose not to live in Llanelly House, which was let for commercial purposes, and he allowed the construction of many new streets, shops and houses on his land in an attempt to boost his income. He was thus largely responsible for much of the present layout of Llanelli and chose the names of many of its streets, which reflected his family's connections and careers: for example, Stepney Street, Murray Street, Salamanca Road, Glenalla Road, Inkerman Street. A somewhat eccentric and disagreeable figure (Queen Victoria detested him ), Cowell gained the nickname of ‘Old Whalebone’ . In 1864 Stepney was briefly mentioned as a potential candidate for the parliamentary vacancy in the Carmarthen Boroughs, but he withdrew in favour ofWilliam Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
, a cousin of the late member, David Morris. Prior to the 1868 General Election, William Morris announced his retirement and Colonel Cowell-Stepney, as he had now become, was elected Liberal MP for Carmarthen Boroughs at the age of seventy-seven. He made little impact in Parliament, although he spoke out against religious education in schools and opposed electoral intimidation by other Welsh landlords .
He was the publisher of the ''Social Economist'' which published an abridged version of the ''Communist Manifesto
''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Comm ...
'' in August and September 1869. This coincided with Cowell-Stepney attending the Basle Congress of the International Workingmen's Association
The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...
in September 1869, where he was a delegate of the General Council.
He retired in 1874. On 22 September 1871 Prime Minister Gladstone, a family friend, created a new baronetcy for Cowell-Stepney. He died on 15 May 1877 and is buried with his wife in Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...
.
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowell-Stepney, John UK MPs 1868–1874 Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Coldstream Guards officers 1791 births 1877 deaths British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Stepney family Members of the International Workingmen's Association Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Carmarthenshire constituencies