William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper

William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper (13 August 1709 – 18 September 1764), styled Viscount Fordwich between 1718 and 1723, was a British peer and courtier.

Born William Cowper, he was the eldest son of William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, and his second wife Mary, daughter of John Clavering of Chopwell, County Durham. He later assumed the additional surname of Clavering on the death of his maternal uncle.^[1]

He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, matriculating in 1725 aged 16, created DCL in 1728.^[2]

He succeeded his father in the earldom in October 1723, aged 14.^[3] In 1744 he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, a post he held until his death.^[4] He was also a Lord of the Bedchamber to George II.^[3]

Lord Cowper was twice married. He married firstly Lady Henrietta, daughter of Henry de Nassau d'Auverquerque, 1st Earl of Grantham, in 1732. After her death in September 1747 he married secondly Lady Georgiana Caroline Carteret, daughter of John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, and widow of John Spencer, on 1 May 1750. He died on 18 September 1764, aged 55, and was succeeded in the earldom by his son from his first marriage, George Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper. The Countess Cowper died on 21 August 1780.^[5]

Relatives edit

Cowper Family Tree^[6]

William Cowper
(d. 1664)
1st Baronet of Ratling Court in the County of Kent

Martha Master

Joyce Hukeley
(1622–1669)

John Cowper
(1613–1643)

Sir Samuel Holled
(1619–1661)

Anne Cowper
(d. 1664)

William Cowper
(1639–1706)
2nd Baronet of Ratling Court

Sarah Cowper
(1644–1720)

Baron Cowper of Wingham in the County of Kent, 1706
Earl Cowper and Viscount Fordwich, in the County of Kent, 1718

Elizabeth Culling
(1676–1703)

William Cowper
(1665–1723)
1st Earl Cowper, 1st Viscount Fordwich, 3rd Baronet of Ratling Court

1) Judith Booth
(d. 1705)

2) Mary Clavering
(1685–1724)

Samuel Cowper
(1666)

John Cowper
(1667–1686)

Spencer Cowper
(1670–1728)

Pennington
Goodere
(1667–1727)

William Cowper
(1697–1719)

Mary Cowper
(1700–1740)

William Cowper
(1687–1692?)

William Cowper
(1689–1740)

Spencer Cowper
(1690)

Spencer Cowper
(1691–1706)

John Cowper
(1694–1756)

Ashley Cowper
(1701–1768)

Judith Madan
(1702–1781)

Sarah Cowper
(1707–1764)

William Clavering-Cowper
(1709–1764)
2nd Earl Cowper, 2nd Viscount Fordwich, 4th Baronet of Ratling Court

Anne Cowper
(1710–1764)

Spencer Cowper
(1713–1774)

William Cowper
(1731–1800)

George Nassau Clavering-Cowper
(1738–1789)
3rd Earl Cowper, 3rd Viscount Fordwich, 5th Baronet of Ratling Court

George Augustus Clavering-Cowper
(1776–1799)
4th Earl Cowper, 4th Viscount Fordwich, 6th Baronet of Ratling Court

Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau
(1778–1837)
5th Earl Cowper, 5th Viscount Fordwich, 7th Baronet of Ratling Court

George Augustus Frederick Cowper
(1806–1856)
6th Earl Cowper, 6th Viscount Fordwich, 8th Baronet of Ratling Court

Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper
(1834–1905)
7th Earl Cowper, 7th Viscount Fordwich, 8th Baron Lucas, 3rd Baron Butler, 9th Baronet of Ratling Court, 4th Lord Dingwall

Florence Amabell Herbert

Auberon Edward William Molyneux Herbert
(1838–1906)

Earldom of Cowper, Viscountcy of Fordwich, Barony of Cowper, Baronetcy of Ratlingcourt extinct, 1905

Auberon Thomas Herbert
(1876–1916)
9th Baron Lucas, 5th Lord Dingwall

Nan Ino Cooper
(1880–1958)
10th Baroness Lucas, 6th Lady Dingwall

Anne Rosemary Palmer
(d. 1991)
11th Baroness Lucas, 7th Lady Dingwall

Ralph Matthew Palmer
(b. 1951)
12th Baron Lucas, 8th Lord Dingwall

Arms edit

Coat of arms of William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper
	Crest A lion's jamb erased Or holding a cherry branch Vert fructed Gules. Escutcheon Argent three martlets Gules on a chief engrailed of the last three annulets Or. Supporters Two dun horses close cropped (except a tuft on the withers) and docked a large blaze down the face a black list down the back and three white feet viz both hind and the near fore foot. Motto Tuum Est (It Is Thine) ^[7]

References edit

^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cowper, William Cowper, 1st Earl" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 349.
^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Cowper, William, Earl Cowper" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
^ ^a ^b thepeerage.com William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper
^ leighrayment.com Peerage: Cowper to Cutts of Gowran^[usurped]
^ L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 87.
^ Gittings, Clare (January 1997). "The hell of living: Reflections on death in the diary of Sarah, Lady Cowper, 1700–1716". Mortality. 2 (1): 26. doi:10.1080/713685853.
^ Debrett's Peerage. 1869.

Honorary titles
Preceded by The 3rd Earl of Essex	Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire 1744–1764	Succeeded by The 4th Earl of Essex
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by William Cowper	Earl Cowper 1723–1764	Succeeded by George Nassau Clavering-Cowper

[1] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cowper, William Cowper, 1st Earl" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 349.

[2] Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Cowper, William, Earl Cowper" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.

[thepeerage.com-3] thepeerage.com William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper

[4] rayment.com Peerage: Cowper to Cutts of Gowran^[usurped]

[5] L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 87.

[6] Gittings, Clare (January 1997). "The hell of living: Reflections on death in the diary of Sarah, Lady Cowper, 1700–1716". Mortality. 2 (1): 26. doi:10.1080/713685853.

[7] Debrett's Peerage. 1869.

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