Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers (29 June 1725 – 30 January 1806), known as Sir Charles Cocks, 1st Baronet, from 1772 to 1784, was a British politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1747 to 1784.

Life

Cocks was the son of John Cocks and his wife Mary Cocks who was his cousin and daughter of Thomas Cocks of Castleditch and was born on 29 June 1725. His paternal grandfather Charles Cocks was the husband of Mary Somers, sister of

John Somers, 1st Baron Somers John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, (4 March 1651 – 26 April 1716) was an English jurist, Whig statesman and peer. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on their defence counsel. He published trac ...

Lord Chancellor of England The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-r ...

. He matriculated at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

in 1742 and entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1745, where he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1750. Cocks was elected Member of Parliament for

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

in the 1747 general election and held the seat until

1784 Events January–March * January 6 – Treaty of Constantinople: The Ottoman Empire agrees to Russia's annexation of the Crimea. * January 14 – The Congress of the United States ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Brit ...

. He was appointed Clerk of Deliveries of the Ordnance from 1758 to 1772 and

Clerk of the Ordnance {{Infobox official post , post = Office of the Clerk of the Ordnance , body = , nativename = , insignia = File:Badge of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on a RML 10 inch 18 ton gun in Gibraltar.jpg , insigniasize ...

from 1772 to 1782. He succeeded his father in 1771 and the following year was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Dumbleton in the County of Gloucester, and on 17 May 1784 the barony inherited from his great-uncle was revived when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Somers, of Evesham in the County of Worcester. He is buried in

Eastnor, Herefordshire Eastnor is a village in Herefordshire, England, east of Ledbury and the same distance from the tripoint of the county with Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Eastnor Castle built by Earl Somers (d.1841) is within its medieval-founded paris ...

with a monument sculpted by

William Humphries Stephens William Humphries Stephens (1739 – c.1820) was an 18th/19th century British sculptor. Life He was born in 1739 the son of Joseph Stephens, a stonecutter in Worcester. He was apprenticed to his father in 1751 and became a Freeman mason in 1760. ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.373

Family

Lord Somers married, firstly, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Eliot and Harriot, natural daughter of

James Craggs the Younger James Craggs the Younger (9 April 168616 February 1721), was an English politician. Life Craggs was born at Westminster, the son of James Craggs the Elder. Part of his early life was spent abroad, where he made the acquaintance of George L ...

, in 1759. After her death in 1771 he married, secondly, Anne, daughter of Reginald Pole, in 1772. There were children from both marriages. Cocks was succeeded in his titles by his son from his first marriage,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, who was created Earl Somers in 1821. Anne, Lady Somers, died in 1833.

References

* * 1725 births 1806 deaths Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn 1 Peers of Great Britain created by George III Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 {{GB-baron-stub