- Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham
-
The Right Honourable
The Earl of Cottenham
PC KCLord Cottenham wearing ceremonial robes when presiding in the House of Lords as Lord Chancellor. Detail of a painting by Charles Robert Leslie. Lord Chancellor In office
16 January 1836 – 30 August 1841Monarch William IV
VictoriaPrime Minister The Viscount Melbourne Preceded by In commission Succeeded by The Lord Lyndhurst In office
6 July 1846 – 19 June 1850Monarch Victoria Prime Minister Lord John Russell Preceded by The Lord Lyndhurst Succeeded by The Lord Truro Personal details Born 29 April 1781
Wimpole Street, LondonDied 29 April 1851 (aged 70)
Pietra Santa, LuccaNationality British Political party Whig Spouse(s) Caroline Wingfield-Baker (1801-1868) Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham PC KC (29 April 1781 – 29 April 1851) was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.
Contents
Background and education
Cottenham was born in London, the second son of Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet, a master in chancery, who was descended from John Pepys, of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, a great-uncle of Samuel Pepys the diarist. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, Pepys was called to the bar, Lincoln's Inn in 1804.[1]
Legal and political career
Practicing at the chancery bar, Cottenham's progress was slow, and it was not till twenty-two years after his call that he was made a King's Counsel. He sat in Parliament, successively, for Higham Ferrers and Malton, was appointed Solicitor General in 1834, and in the same year became Master of the Rolls. On the formation of Lord Melbourne's second administration in April 1835, the great seal was for a time in commission, but eventually Cottenham, who had been one of the commissioners, was appointed Lord Chancellor (January 1836) and was at the same time elevated to the peerage as Baron Cottenham, of Cottenham in the County of Cambridge. He held office until the defeat of the ministry in 1841. In 1846 he again became Lord Chancellor in Lord John Russell's administration. His health, however, had been gradually failing, and he resigned in 1850. Shortly before his retirement, he was created Viscount Crowhurst, of Crowhurst in the County of Surrey, and Earl of Cottenham, of Cottenham in the County of Cambridge. He lived at Prospect Place, Wimbledon from 1831 to 1851. He had succeeded his elder brother as third Baronet in 1845. In 1849 he also succeeded a cousin as fourth Baronet of Juniper Hill.
Family
Lord Cottenham married Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of William Wingfield-Baker, in 1821. They had five sons and three daughters. He died at Pietra Santa, in the duchy of Lucca, Italy, in April 1851, aged 70, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles. Lady Cottenham died in April 1868, aged 66. His niece Emily Pepys (1833-1887), daughter of Henry Pepys, bishop of Worcester, was a child diarist.
References
- ^ Pepys, Charles Christopher in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Pepys
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Viscount MiltonMember of Parliament for Higham Ferrers
1831Succeeded by
John PonsonbyPreceded by
Lord Cavendish of Keighley
Henry Gally KnightMember of Parliament for Malton
1831 – 1836
With: Henry Gally Knight to 1832
Viscount Milton (2) 1832–33
John Charles Ramsden from 1833Succeeded by
John Childers
John Charles RamsdenLegal offices Preceded by
Sir John CampbellSolicitor General
1834Succeeded by
Sir Robert RolfePreceded by
Sir John LeachMaster of the Rolls
1834 – 1836Succeeded by
The Lord LangdalePolitical offices In commission Title last held byThe Lord LyndhurstLord Chancellor
1836 – 1841Succeeded by
The Lord LyndhurstPreceded by
The Lord LyndhurstLord Chancellor
1846 – 1850Succeeded by
The Lord TruroPeerage of the United Kingdom New creation Earl of Cottenham
1850 – 1851Succeeded by
Charles Edward PepysBaron Cottenham
1836 – 1851Baronetage of Great Britain Preceded by
Henry LeslieBaronet
(of Juniper Hill)
1833 – 1851Succeeded by
Charles Edward PepysBaronetage of the United Kingdom Preceded by
William PepysBaronet
(of London)
1825 – 1851Succeeded by
Charles Edward PepysLord Chancellors of Great Britain (list) Cowper · in commission · Harcourt · Cowper · Macclesfield · in commission · King · Talbot · Hardwicke · in commission · Northington · Pratt · Yorke · in commission · Bathurst · Thurlow · in commission · Thurlow · in commission · Loughborough · Scott · Erskine · Eldon (Scott) · Copley · Brougham · Lyndhurst (Copley) · in commission · Cottenham · Lyndhurst · Cottenham · in commission · Truro · St Leonards · Cranworth · Chelmsford · Campbell · Westbury · Cranworth · Chelmsford · Cairns · Hatherley · Selborne · Cairns · Selborne · Halsbury · Herschell · Halsbury · Herschell · Halsbury · Loreburn · Haldane · Buckmaster · Finlay · Birkenhead · Cave · Haldane · Cave · D. Hailsham · Sankey · D. Hailsham · Maugham · Caldecote · Simon · Jowitt · Simonds · Kilmuir · Dilhorne · Gardiner · Q. Hailsham · Elwyn-Jones · Q. Hailsham · Havers · Mackay · Irvine · Falconer · Straw · Clarke
Categories:- Lord Chancellors of Great Britain
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1831–1832
- UK MPs 1832–1835
- UK MPs 1835–1837
- English lawyers
- English Queen's Counsel
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- 1781 births
- 1851 deaths
- Solicitors General for England and Wales
- Masters of the Rolls
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
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