Francis Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper

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The Earl Cowper
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
4 May 1880 – 4 May 1882
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterWilliam Ewart Gladstone
Preceded byThe Duke of Marlborough
Succeeded byLord Spencer
Personal details
Born11 June 1834 (1834-06-11)
Died18 July 1905(1905-07-18) (aged 71)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
SpouseLady Katrine Compton
Parent(s)George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper
Anne de Grey
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Quartered arms of Francis Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper, KG, PC, DL

Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper KG PC DL (11 June 1834 – 18 July 1905), known as Viscount Fordwich from 1837 to 1856, was a British Liberal politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1880 to 1882.

Overwhelmingly by inheritance he was rendered a sterling millionaire, a threshold reached by his own death estate which is estimated to apply to seven other British residents per year, only, in 1905.

Background[edit]

Cowper (pronounced "Cooper") was the eldest son of George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper, by his wife Anne de Grey, 7th holder of the barony of Lucas of Crudwell, daughter of Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey. He was educated at Harrow School and the University of Oxford.

He was commissioned a cornet in the Yorkshire Hussars on 19 February 1852.[1] On 22 November 1855, his father appointed him a deputy lieutenant of Kent.[2]

Political career[edit]

Cowper entered the House of Lords on his father's death in 1856 and served under William Ewart Gladstone as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords) from 1871 to 1874 and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1880 to 1882. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1865 and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1871.

Other public positions[edit]

Apart from his political career Cowper held the position of Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire between 1861 and 1905. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire and Kent.

Peerages[edit]

In 1871, Cowper managed to obtain a reversal of the attainder of the Scottish lordship of Dingwall and the English barony of Butler, which had been under attainder since 1715, and he became the 4th Lord Dingwall and the 3rd Baron Butler as well. In 1880, he succeeded his mother as 8th Baron Lucas.

Relative wealth[edit]

He came to own more than £1M of assets which Sir Leo Chiozza Money, an analyst of the rich of the era, estimated was true of only eight British people who died "in an average year". In the US, a concentration of greater wealth existed: by the start of the World War I, Rockefeller had become the world's first billionaire estimated (in somewhat cheaper US dollars), in the year he died.[3]

He owned almost 38,000 acres.[4]

Family[edit]

Lord Cowper married Lady Katrine Compton, daughter of William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton, in 1870. The marriage was childless. Cowper died in July 1905, aged 71. On his death, the baronetcy of Ratlingcourt, barony of Cowper, viscountcy of Fordwich and earldom of Cowper became extinct. He was succeeded in the barony of Lucas of Crudwell and the lordship of Dingwall by his nephew, Auberon.

His probate was resworn as per the official Calendar in 1905 at £1,326,681 (equivalent to about £151,600,000 in 2021).[5] Because Lord Cowper died childless and there were no other male-line descendants of the first Earl Cowper at the time of his death, his wealth stated mainly devolved to issue of his three married sisters (Lady Florence Herbert, Lady Adine Fane and Lady Amabel Kerr)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "No. 21294". The London Gazette. 24 February 1852. p. 526.
  2. ^ "No. 21822". The London Gazette. 30 November 1855. p. 4539.
  3. ^ "Who wants to be a millionaire?". The Guardian. 29 September 1999. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  4. ^ The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland
  5. ^ "Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales)". probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
Political offices
Preceded by Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms
1871–1874
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1880–1882
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire
1861–1905
Succeeded by
Baronetage of England
Preceded by Baronet
1880–1905
Extinct
Peerage of England
Preceded by Baron Lucas
1880–1905
Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
James Butler
Baron Butler
1871–1905
In abeyance
Preceded by Baron Cowper
1856–1905
Extinct
Peerage of Scotland
Vacant
Title last held by
James Butler
Lord Dingwall
1871–1905
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Earl Cowper
1856–1905
Extinct