William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper

William Clavering-Cowper
portrait c. 1732
Born13 August 1709
Died18 September 1764(1764-09-18) (aged 55)
Alma materExeter College, Oxford (DCL)
Spouse
​
(m. 1750)​
ChildrenGeorge
Parent(s)William Cowper
Mary Clavering

William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper (13 August 1709 – 18 September 1764), styled Viscount Fordwich between 1718 and 1723, was an English 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. In 1744, he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, a post he held until his death.[3] He was also a Lord of the Bedchamber to George II.

Lord Cowper was twice married. He married firstly Lady Henrietta, daughter of Henry de Nassau d'Auverquerque in 1732. After her death in September 1747, he married secondly Lady Georgiana Caroline Carteret, daughter of John Carteret, and widow of John Spencer, on 1 May 1750. They lived at Upper Brook Street, Mayfair.[4]

He died on 18 September 1764, aged 55, and was succeeded in the earldom by his son from his first marriage, George Clavering-Cowper. The Countess Cowper died on 21 August 1780.[5]

Relatives


Arms

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

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cowper, William Cowper, 1st Earl" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 349.
  2. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Cowper, William, Earl Cowper" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  3. ^ leighrayment.com Peerage: Cowper to Cutts of Gowran
  4. ^ Sheppard, F H W. "Upper Brook Street: South Side Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings)". British History Online. LCC 1980. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  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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