| Authorised form of name | Cowper; William (c 1665 - 1723); 1st Earl Cowper |
| Dates | c 1665 - 1723 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Hertford Castle, Hertfordshire, England |
| Date of birth | c 1665 |
| Place of death | Colne Green, his seat in Hertfordshire |
| Date of death | 10 October 1723 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Hertingfordbury church, Hertfordshire |
| Activity | Education:
School at St Alban's, Hertfordshire; Middle Temple (admitted 1682)
Career:
Called to the Bar (1688); joined the forces of the Prince of Orange (1688); KC (1694); Recorder of Colchester; MP for Hertford (1695-1700); MP for Beeralston (1701-1705); Keeper of the Great Seal (1705); Privy councillor (1705); Commissioner for the Union of England and Scotland (1706); Lord High Chancellor (1707-1710 and 1714-1718); Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire (1710-1712 and 1714-1721); one of the Lords Justice Regents of the Realm (1714); Lord High Steward for the trial of the rebel Lords (1716), for the trial of the Earl of Oxford (FRS 1712) (1717); Governor of the Charterhouse; died after catching a severe cold while travelling from London to his house in Hertfordshire
Honours:
Baron Cowper of Wingham, Kent 1706; Viscount Fordwiche and Earl Cowper 1718
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 03/04/1706 |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
Council: ?1706, 1708 |
| Relationships | Son of Sir William Cowper, Bart, of Ratling Court, Nonington, Kent, and Hertford and his wife, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Holland or Holled, Merchant, of London; succeeded his father as 3rd Bart (1701); rumoured to have seduced Elizabeth Culling of Hertingfordbury Park, Hertfordshire, with a sham marriage.
Married: 1) (or possibly bigamously), Judith, daughter of Sir Robert Booth, Merchant, of Wallbrook, London; 2) Mary, daughter of John Clavering of Chopwell, Co Durham |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; GEC |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/1562998 |
| Code | NA6762 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| CLP/12i/44 | Paper, 'An account of some experiments lately made on dogs and of the effects of Mr John Colbatch's styptick on humane [human] bodies' by William Cowper | [1694] |