William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper
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William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, ( ; 10 October 1723) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
politician who became the first
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
. Cowper was the son of Sir William Cowper, 2nd Baronet, of Ratling Court,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, a Whig member of parliament of some mark in the two last Stuart reigns.


Career and titles

Cowper was educated at St Albans School in Hertfordshire, and was later to acquire a country estate in the county and represent the county town in Parliament. He was admitted to
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
on 18 March 1681/82, 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 ...
on 25 May 1688, and built up a large practice. He gave his allegiance to the
Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The title ...
on his landing in England in 1688, and was made
King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
and
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of
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
in 1694. Cowper had the reputation of being one of the most effective parliamentary orators of his generation. He lost his seat in parliament in 1702 owing to the unpopularity caused by the trial of his brother
Spencer Cowper Spencer Cowper (23 February 1670 – 10 December 1728) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and British House of Commons between 1705 and 1727. Early life Cowper was the second son of Sir Willia ...
on a charge of murder.


Lord Keeper of the Great Seal

On 11 October 1705 he was sworn to the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, was appointed
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of Sta ...
, and took his seat on the
woolsack The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Before 2006, it was the seat of the Lord Chancellor. History In the 14th century King Edward III (1327–1377) said th ...
without a peerage. In the following year he conducted the negotiations between the English and Scottish commissioners for arranging the union with Scotland. In November of that year he succeeded to his father's baronetcy, and on 14 December 1706, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cowper of Wingham, Kent. He was the youngest Lord Keeper for many years: the Queen, who had taken a great liking to him, joked that "she had given the Seals to a boy" and suggested that in future he should wear a wig to lend him gravity.


Lord High Chancellor

When the union with Scotland came into operation in May 1707 the Queen in Council named Cowper
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
, he being the first to hold this office. He presided at the trial of Dr Sacheverell in 1710, but resigned the seal when
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and Bolingbroke took office in the same year. Queen Anne, who had high regard for him, "begged him with tears in her eyes" not to resign, and though she was reluctantly persuaded to accept his resignation, continued to consult him unofficially for the remainder of her reign. On the death of Queen Anne,
George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...
appointed Cowper one of the Lords Justice for governing the country during the king's absence, and a few weeks later he again became Lord Chancellor.


Lord High Steward

A paper which Cowper drew up for the guidance of the new king on constitutional matters, entitled ''An Impartial History of Parties'', marks the advance of English opinion towards party government in the modern sense. It was published by Lord Campbell in his ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors''. Cowper supported the impeachment of
Lord Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...
for
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
in 1715, and in 1716 presided as
Lord High Steward The Lord High Steward is the first of the Great Officers of State in England, nominally ranking above the Lord Chancellor. The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, and is now an ''ad hoc'' office that is primarily ceremonial and ...
at the trials of the peers charged with complicity in the
Jacobite rising , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...
, his sentences on whom have been censured as unnecessarily severe. He warmly supported the Septennial Bill in the same year.


Viscount Fordwich and Earl Cowper

On 18 March 1718 he was created Viscount Fordwich and Earl Cowper, and a month later he resigned office on the plea of ill-health, but probably in reality because George I accused him of espousing the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
's side in the prince's quarrel with the king. Taking the lead against his former colleagues, Cowper opposed the proposed
Peerage Bill {{short description, Proposed British law of 1719 The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland which would have largely halted the ...
brought forward in 1719 to limit the number of peers, and also opposed the
bill of attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder or bill of penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and punishing them, often without a trial. As with attai ...
against Atterbury in 1723. Cowper was not a great lawyer, but Burnet says that he managed the
Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...
with impartial justice and great despatch; the most eminent of his contemporaries agreed in extolling his oratory and his virtues. It is notable that Queen Anne, despite her prejudice against the Whigs in general, came to have great respect and liking for Cowper, and continued to seek his advice even after he left office as Lord Chancellor.


Trial of Spencer Cowper

His younger brother,
Spencer Cowper Spencer Cowper (23 February 1670 – 10 December 1728) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and British House of Commons between 1705 and 1727. Early life Cowper was the second son of Sir Willia ...
(1669–1728), was tried for the murder of Sarah Stout in 1699, but was acquitted; the lady, who had allegedly fallen in love with Cowper, having committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
on account of his inattention—at least according to Cowper's lawyers. Spencer was one of the managers of the impeachment of
Henry Sacheverell Henry Sacheverell (; 8 February 1674 – 5 June 1724) was an English high church Anglican clergyman who achieved nationwide fame in 1709 after preaching an incendiary 5 November sermon. He was subsequently impeached by the House of Commons and ...
, was Attorney-General to the Prince of Wales (1714),
Chief Justice of Chester The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830. Within the County Palatine (w ...
(1717), and
Judge of the Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...
(1727). He was great uncle of
William Cowper William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 â€“ 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scen ...
, the poet.


Personal life


Marriages

William Cowper was twice married: first, in about 1686, to Judith, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Booth, a London merchant; and secondly, in 1706, to
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
, daughter of John Clavering, of Chopwell, Durham. The latter marriage seems to have been based on Cowper's admiration of her beauty although he demanded to see her undressed before the wedding.William Cowper
History of Parliament, Retrieved 12 February 2017
Swift (''Examiner'', xvii., xxii.) alludes to an allegation that Cowper had been guilty of bigamy, for which there appears to have been no solid foundation. The 1st Earl left two sons and two daughters by his second wife; the elder son, also
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 ...
, inherited his titles, and the younger,
Spencer Cowper Spencer Cowper (23 February 1670 – 10 December 1728) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and British House of Commons between 1705 and 1727. Early life Cowper was the second son of Sir Willia ...
became
Dean of Durham The Dean of Durham is the "head" (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the Chapter, the ruling body of Durham Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cu ...
.


Mistress

Elizabeth Culling was the mistress of William Cowper, and bore him two children. She was the daughter of John Culling of Hertingfordbury Park, who died in 1687/8, and was buried in St Helen's, Bishopsgate. Her brother John died in January 1702/3 without issue, and Elizabeth inherited the estate. She died on 27 November 1703, and was buried at
Hertingfordbury Hertingfordbury is a small village in Hertfordshire, England, close to the county town of Hertford. It was mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''. Hertingfordbury is also the name of a neighbouring civil parish, which does not contain the village. ...
. Of her children, William, born on 14 November 1697, died in Paris on 31 October 1719. Mary, born on 10 September 1700, lived to maturity, and married one Robert Isaacson.


Polygamy allegation

The rumours about Lord Cowper's polygamy appeared to be based on the fact that Elizabeth Culling was of a station in life that perhaps would, in other circumstances, have led to her becoming the wife, rather than the mistress, of William Cowper. In her will, she acknowledges that the children are her natural children, and the children were also acknowledged by Lord Cowper and his second wife, as will be seen from the correspondence.National Archives
/ref>


Later years and death

In his last years Cowper was accused, but probably without reason, of active sympathy with the Jacobites. He died at his residence, Cole Green near
Panshanger Panshanger was a large country house located between the outer edge of Hertford and Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. History Earl Cowper, who later became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, acquired the Cole Green estate c. 1700.R ...
in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
on 10 October 1723. Mary, who was devastated by his death, outlived him by only a few months.


Relatives


Arms


Footnotes


References

*''Private Diary of Earl Cowper'', edited by E. C. Hawtrey for the
Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 days ...
(Eton, 1833) *''The Diary of Mary, Countess Cowper'', edited by the Hon. Spencer Cowper (London, 1864) *Lord Campbell, ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal'' (8 vols, London, 1845–1869) *
Edward Foss Edward Foss (16 October 1787 – 27 July 1870) was an English lawyer and biographer. He became a solicitor, and on his retirement from practice in 1840, devoted himself to the study of legal antiquities. His ''Judges of England'' (9 vols., 1848†...
, ''The Judges of England'' (9 vols, London, 1848–1864) *
Gilbert Burnet Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academic, ...
, ''History of his Own Time'' (6 vols, Oxford, 1833) *T. B. Howell, ''State Trials'', vols xii–xv. (33 vols, London, 1809–1828) * George E. Cokayne, ''Complete Peerage'' (London, 1889).


External links

* *
UK Parliamentary Archives, The Cowper Books of Standing Orders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowper, William Cowper, 1st Earl 1665 births 1723 deaths Earls Cowper Fellows of the Royal Society Lord Keepers Lord chancellors of Great Britain Lord High Stewards Lord-Lieutenants of Hertfordshire People from St Albans People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire 17th-century King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of England English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 Peers of England created by Queen Anne Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston People from Wingham, Kent 18th-century King's Counsel