COWPER. 395 h. of Sir William Cowper, 2nd Bart, (of Ratling Courts) in Nonington, Kent) by Sarah, da. of Samuel Holled, of London, merchant ; was*, about 1665, at Hertford Castle ;( b ) ed. at St. Albans' School; Barrister (Mid-Temple) 1688; King's Counsel, 1689, having, with 30 volunteers, joined the King (when Prince of Orange) at Walling, ford some short time before ; Recorder of Colchester; M.P. for Hertford, 1695-1700, and for Beeralston, 1700-05. By Queen Anne he was continued as Queen's Counsel, 1702, and on 11 Oct. 1705, was, by the Whig party (the Attorney and Sol. Gen. being , both passed over) made Keeper of the Great Seal and P.C. ; Commissioner for the Union [S.], 1706. On 26 Nov. 1706 he sue. his father as a Baronet [E. and S.]. and, a few weeks afterwards, was raised to the peerage as afsd. After the Union [S.J he was constituted 4 May 1707 HIGH Chancellor of Gkeat Britain, but resigned that office 23 Sep. 1710, tho' re-appointed by George I, 21 Sep. 1714, being raised, in 1718, to an Earldom as afsd, only a month before his resignation of office 15 April 1718. He had been one of the Lords Justices of the Kingdom during the momentous peijod, 1 Aug. to 18 Sep. 1714 ; and acted as Lord High Steward 10 Jim. and 15 March 1716 for the trial of " the rebel Lords," and again, 24 June 1717, for the trial of the Karl of Oxford. He was also 1710-12 and 1714-23, Lord Lieut of Herts ; was F.R.S. (1706) ; a Gov. of the Charter House, &c. He m. firstly, about 1686, Judith, da. and h. of Sir Robert Booth, of Wallbrook, Loudon, merchant. She </., s.p.s., 2 April 1705. He m. secondly, 1706, Mary, da. of John Clavering, of Chopwell, co. Durham. He d. at Colue Green( c ) 10 and was bur. 19 Oct. 1723 at Hertingfordbury . Will pr. May 1724.^) His widow d. 5 and was bur. 15 Feb. 1723/4 as afsd. Will pr. Feb. 1724. II. 1723. 2. William (Cowper, afterwards Clavering Cowper), Earl Cowper, &c, s. and h. by 2nd wife, b. 13 and bap. 14 Aug. 1709, at Hertingfordbury ; matric. at Oxford (Ex. Coll.) 4 Oct 1725 ; Hon. D.C.L. 28 June 1728: a Lord of the Bedchamber, 1733-47; Mayor of Fordwich, 1711; Lord Lieut, and Custos Rot of Herts, 1744, F.R.S., &c. On the death of his mother's brother, he, under his will, assumed the addit. name of Clavering. He m. firstly, 29 June 1732, Henrietta, yst da. and coheir (whose issue became sole h.) to Henry (.Nassau" de Au"vei{Qu"erqd*e/, Earl of Grantham, by Henrietta, da. (whose issue became h.) to James Butler, styled Earl of Ossort, s. and h. ap. of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde. She d. v.p., 23 Sep., and was bur. 2 Oct. 1747, at Hertingford- bury. He m. secondly, 1 May 1750, Georgiana Caroline, widow of the Hon. John Sfrnckr, of Wimbledon, Surrey (who d. 10 June 1746), da. of John (Carteret), Eabl Granville, by his 1st wife, Frances, da. of Sir Robert Worsley, Bart, but by her had no issue. He d. 18 Sep., and was bur. 2 Oct. 1764, at Hertingfordbury. Will pr. Oct. 1764. His widow d. 25 Aug. 1780, at Richmond, Surrey. Will pr. Oct. 1780. III. 1764. 3. George Nassau (Clavering-Cowper), Earl Cowper, &c, only s. Jaud h., by 1st wife, 6. 26 Aug. 1738, bap. at St. Geo. Han. Sq., the King, George III, and the Princess Amelia, his sponsors, being present ; ( a ) Ratling Court " has been nothing more than a very mean farm house for above a century. The seat at the Moat, near Canterbury, has been lately pulled down." See " Collins's Peerage," edit 1812. ( b ) Foss's " Judges." ( c ) " The house which he built there was pulled down in the beginning of this century, and replaced by the present [1888] stately mansion of Panshanger." See Foss's Judges. (<•) " His person was handsome, his voice melodious, his elocution perfect, his style pure and nervous, his manner engaging ; on the other hand, in logical faculty and grasp of legal science he was deficient (see Stephens' "Nat. Biography) "his strength as an orator," says Lord Chesterfield, " lay by no means in his reasonings, for he often hazarded very weak ones ;" but, says Bishop Burnet, " he managed the Court of Chancery with impartial justice and great despatch ;" and it is much to his credit he refused the New Year's gifts, which had hitherto been customary. In his politics, however, he was not so equitable, and his " Impartial History of Parties," which he presented to the King in 1714, and in which "he artfully deprecates all the acts and principles " of the Tories "is anything but what its title imports. See foss's Judges.
