COWPER 483 COWPER and COWPER OF WINGHAM BARONY. I. William Cowper, s. and h. of Sir William C, 2nd J ^ ^g Bart, (of Ratling Court (^) in Nonington, Kent), by Sarah, ' ' ' da. of Samuel Holled, of London, merchant; is said FART nOM *° ^^^^ ^^^" ^- ^bout 1665, at Hertford Castle;() ed. at ^ St. Albans' school; Barrister (Mid-Temple) 1688; K.C., I. 1718. 1689, having, with 30 volunteers, joined the King (when Prince of Orange) at Wallingford some short time before ;("') Recorder of Colchester; M.P. (Whig) for Hertford, 1 695-1 700, and for Beeralston, 1 700/1 -05. C^) By Queen Anne he was continued as Q.C., 1702, and on 1 1 Oct. 1 705, was, by the Whig party (the Attorney and Sol. Gen. being both passed over) made Keeper of the Great Seal and P.C.; Com- missioner for the Union [S.], 1706. F.R.S. 3 Apr. 1706. On 26 Nov. 1706 he sue. his father as a Baronet [E. and S.]. On 14 Dec^ 1706, he was cr. BARON COWPER OF WINGHAM, Kent. Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 4 May 1707, but resigned that office 23 Sep. 1 7 10, was re-appointed by George I, 21 Sep. 1714, and held office till Apr. 1718. Lord Lieut, of Herts 17 10-12, and 17 14-21. One of the Lords Justices Regents of the Kingdom during the momentous period, I Aug. to 18 Sep. I7i4;(^) and acted as Lord High Steward 10 Jan. and 15 Mar. 1716, for the trial of "the rebel lords," and again, 24 June 1717, for the trial of the Earl of Oxford. On 18 Mar. 17 17/8, he was cr. VIS- COUNT FORDWICH, Kent, and EARL COWPER,(s) with a spec. rem. of those dignities, and with a further extension of the rem. of the Barony of Cowper of Wingham, failing heirs male of the body of the grantee, to his br., Sir Spencer Cowper C^) and the heirs male of his body. Gov. of the Charter House, ^c. He ?«., istly, about 1686, Judith, da. and h. of Sir Robert Booth, of Wallbrook, London, merchant. She d. s.p.s., 2 Apr. 1705. M.I. at St. Augustine's, Farringdon Within. He ;«., 2 ndly, privately, in Sep. 1706, Mary, da. of John Clavering, of Chopwell, co. Durham. He (') 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. I 8x2. C") Foss's Judges of England. («) For a list of the principal persons who joined the Prince of Orange, see vol. ii, Appendix H. V.G. ("*) He frequently voted with the Tories after 1718, and signed over 40 protests between 1721 and 1723, all in conjunction with Tory peers. V.G. (') Diet, Nat. Biog. gives the date as 9 Nov., but the patent is dat. 14 Dec, and it was not gazetted till later. V.G. (*) For a list of these see note sub William, Duke of Devonshire [1707]. («) See vol. ii, p. 462, note "a." C") The issue male of this Spencer Cowper became extinct in his grandchildren; one (but not the survivor) of these was the Poet, William Cowper, b. 26 Apr. 1731, </. 25 Apr. 1 800.
