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 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was a junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to ...

under his uncle

Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...

in 1834.

Background

Cowper was the eldest son of Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, and his wife

Emily Lamb Emily Temple, Viscountess Palmerston (née Lamb, later Clavering-Cowper; 1787–1869), styled The Honourable Emily Lamb from 1787 to 1805 and Countess Cowper from 1805 to 1839, was a leading figure of the Almack's social set, sister of Prime M ...

, daughter of

Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne (29 January 1745 – 22 July 1828), known as Sir Peniston Lamb, 2nd Baronet, from 1768 to 1770, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1793. He was the father of Prime Minister ...

, sister of Prime Minister

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig (political faction), Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership end ...

, and a leading figure in Regency society.

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. ...

, was his younger brother. His mother married as her second husband the future Prime Minister

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

, in 1839.

Military career

He was commissioned a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

in the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, also known as the Blues, or abbreviated as RHG, was one of the cavalry regiments of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry. In 1969, it was amalgamated with the 1st The Royal Dragoons to form the ...

on 28 April 1827. On 27 February 1830, he purchased a

lieutenancy Lieutenancy may refer to: United Kingdom Places * Lieutenancy area, a separate area appointed a lord-lieutenant, including: **Ceremonial counties of England, formally known as "counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies" **Lieutenancy areas of ...

in the regiment. He retired on the half-pay of the New South Wales Veteran Companies in March 1831, but exchanged into a lieutenancy in the

31st Regiment of Foot The 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot to form the East Surrey Regiment in 1881. History Origins ...

on 13 February 1835. He retired from the

Regular army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

on 6 March 1835. However, in 1833 he had accepted command of a

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

in the part-time South Hertfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, which he held until his resignation in April 1832.

Political career

Cowper entered 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 ...

for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in the 1830 general election, and served briefly under his uncle Lord Melbourne as

between November and December 1834. He lost his seat in Parliament in the 1835 general election. Two years later he succeeded his father in the earldom. Between 1846 and 1856 he served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent.

Marriage and issue

Lord Cowper married Lady Anne Florence de Grey (who after her husband's death succeeded as sixth Baroness Lucas of Crudwell), daughter of

Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey Thomas Philip de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, 3rd Baron Grantham, 6th Baron Lucas (born Robinson, later Weddell; 8 December 178114 November 1859), styled as The Hon. Thomas Robinson until 1786 and as Lord Grantham from 1786 to 1833, of Wrest Park in ...

, in 1833. They had two sons and four daughters: * Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper (1834–1905) * The Honourable Henry Frederick Cowper (1836–1887) *Lady Henrietta Emily Mary Cowper (26 March 1838 – 28 June 1853), died young *Lady Florence Amabel Cowper (4 December 1840 – 28 April 1886), married the Honourable Auberon Herbert in 1871. *Lady Adine Eliza Anne Cowper (17 March 1843 – 20 October 1868), married Hon. Julian Fane in 1866. * Lady Amabel Frederica Henrietta Cowper (1846–1906), married

Lord Walter Kerr Admiral of the Fleet Lord Walter Talbot Kerr, (28 September 1839 – 12 May 1927) was a Royal Navy officer. After taking part in the Crimean War and then the Indian Mutiny, he supervised the handover of Ulcinj to Montenegro to allow Montenegro an ...

in 1873. Lord Cowper died in April 1856, aged 49, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

. Lady Cowper died in 1880.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowper, George Cowper, 6th Earl 1806 births 1856 deaths Earls Cowper

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

East Surrey Regiment officers Lord-lieutenants of Kent Royal Horse Guards officers Hertfordshire Yeomanry officers UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs who inherited peerages Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies