William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, KG (29 December 175719 March 1844), also known as Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Little Preston, from 1788 to 1802, and William Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lowther, from 1802 to 1807, was a British

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

politician and nobleman known for building Lowther Castle.

Early life

Lowther was the eldest son of Rev. Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Little Preston and Swillington, and his wife Anne

Zouch Zouch is a hamlet in south west Nottinghamshire, England. It is located between Hathern and Normanton on Soar and is situated by the River Soar, which marks the county boundary with Leicestershire.Ordnance Survey mapping Most of the hamlet l ...

. His younger brother was Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet, who also married a daughter of the 9th Earl of Westmorland. His father, an ordained priest who served as rector of Swillington from 1757 to 1788, inherited the estate of Swillington in 1763, upon the death of his first cousin

Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet (c. 1694 – 6 March 1763) was an English landowner from Swillington, and a baronet in the Baronetage of Great Britain. He was the eldest son of Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet by his wife, Annabella Maynard. He ...

. His father, a son of Christopher Lowther, was a grandson of Sir William Lowther. His maternal grandparents were Charles Zouch,

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Sandal Magna, and the former Dorothy Norton (daughter of Gervase Norton). Through his mother, his uncles were Henry and Thomas Zouch. He was educated at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, 1771, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, 1776.

Career

Like many members of the Lowther family, he followed the politics of his cousin, Sir James Lowther, 5th Baronet (later the 1st Earl of Lonsdale), but he seems to have shown a tendency towards independence. Lowther was briefly

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Appleby in 1780, for

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

from 1780 to 1784 and for

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

from 1784 to 1790. In 1796, he was returned as

for

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, holding the seat until 1802. On 15 June 1788, he succeeded his father as the second baronet, of Little Preston. In 1802, he inherited by special remainder the titles of Viscount Lowther and Baron Lowther from his third cousin twice removed, the 1st Earl of Lonsdale of the first creation, as well as his immense estates. He was also appointed to the northern Lord Lieutenancies of Cumberland and

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

. In 1807, Lowther was himself created Earl of Lonsdale and appointed a Knight of the Garter. A

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

magnate, he spent £200,000 on the Lowther estate and built a new Lowther Castle. A

in politics, he seems to have been tolerant and well-liked, disdaining sabbatarianism and serving as patron for a number of painters and authors, including

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

Personal life

On 12 July 1781, Lord Lonsdale was married to Lady Augusta Fane (died 1838), the eldest daughter of

John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland (5 May 1728 – 25 April 1774), known as Lord Burghersh until 1771, was an English peer and Member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland of Wormsley Park, Buckinghamshi ...

and, his first wife, Augusta Bertie (eldest daughter and co-heiress of

Lord Montagu Bertie Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

, fourth son, by his second wife, of Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven). Together, they were the parents of six children: * William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale (1787–1872), who never married, but had at least three illegitimate children he acknowledged. * Hon.

Henry Cecil Lowther Colonel Henry Cecil Lowther, DL, JP (27 July 1790 – 6 December 1867) was an English Conservative politician and an amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1843. His long service in the House of Commons saw him becom ...

(1790–1867), who married Lady Lucy Eleanor Sherard, daughter of Philip Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough. * Lady Elizabeth Lowther (d. 1869), who died unmarried. * Lady Mary Lowther (1785–1863), who married Maj.-Gen.

Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck Major-General Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck (2 November 1781 – 10 February 1828) known as Lord Frederick Bentinck was a British soldier and politician. The youngest child and fourth son of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland ...

, son of the

3rd Duke of Portland William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, (14 April 173830 October 1809) was a British Whig and then a Tory politician during the late Georgian era. He served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1792–1809) an ...

, on 16 September 1820. Lady Mary, an amateur artist, was tutored by Joseph Farington and

Peter de Wint Peter De Wint (21 January 1784 – 30 January 1849) was an English landscape painter. A number of his pictures are in the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Collection, Lincoln. He died in London. Biography De Wint w ...

. * Lady Anne Lowther (d. 1863), who married Sir John Beckett, 2nd Baronet on 20 January 1817. * Lady Grace Caroline Lowther (d. 1883), who married

William Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland William John Frederick Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland (3 April 1792 – 6 September 1864), styled The Hon. William Vane from 1792 to 1813, The Hon. William Powlett from 1813 to 1827 and Lord William Powlett from 1827 to 1864, was a British polit ...

on 3 July 1815. Lowther also enjoyed

fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

, serving as Master of the

Cottesmore Hunt The Cottesmore Hunt, which hunts mostly in Rutland, is one of the oldest foxhound packs in Britain. Its name comes from the village of Cottesmore where the hounds were kennelled. History The Cottesmore Hunt's origins may be traced back to 166 ...

from 1788 to 1802 and 1806 to 1842. Lord Lonsdale died at York House, Twickenham on 19 March 1844.

Gallery

File:William Lowther 1st Earl of Lonsdale.jpg, Portrait of Lord Lonsdale, by Jacob Thompson File:Augusta Countess of Lonsdale.jpg, Drawing of his wife, Augusta, Countess of Lonsdale, by

Sir Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at t ...

, 1837 File:William Lowther 2nd Earl of Lonsdale.jpg, Lithography of his eldest son, William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale, by Vincent Brooks File:Henry Lowther 3rd Earl of Lonsdale.jpg, upPortrait of his grandson, Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale, File:Shield of arms of William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, KG.png, Lord Lonsdale's Shield of arms File:Lowther Castle - Evening by Turner 1810.jpg, Painting of Lowther Castle at evening by

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

, 1810

References

External links

* * * * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsdale, William Lowther, 1st Earl of 1757 births 1844 deaths People from Westmorland People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 1 Knights of the Garter Lord-Lieutenants of Cumberland Lord-Lieutenants of Westmorland Lowther, William Lowther, William British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1796–1800 Lowther, William Lowther, William Lonsdale, E1 UK MPs who were granted peerages

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Masters of foxhounds in England People from Cumberland