The Right Honourable The Earl of Cottenham PC KC |
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Lord 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 1841 |
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Monarch | William IV Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
Preceded by | In commission |
Succeeded by | The Lord Lyndhurst |
In office 6 July 1846 – 19 June 1850 |
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Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | Lord John Russell |
Preceded by | The Lord Lyndhurst |
Succeeded by | The Lord Truro |
Personal details | |
Born | 29 April 1781 Wimpole Street, London |
Died | 29 April 1851 Pietra Santa, Lucca |
(aged 70)
Nationality | 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.
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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]
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.
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.
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by Viscount Milton |
Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers 1831 |
Succeeded by John Ponsonby |
Preceded by Lord Cavendish of Keighley Henry Gally Knight |
Member of Parliament for Malton 1831 – 1836 With: Henry Gally Knight to 1832 Viscount Milton (2) 1832–33 John Charles Ramsden from 1833 |
Succeeded by John Childers John Charles Ramsden |
Legal offices | ||
Preceded by Sir John Campbell |
Solicitor General 1834 |
Succeeded by Sir Robert Rolfe |
Preceded by Sir John Leach |
Master of the Rolls 1834 – 1836 |
Succeeded by The Lord Langdale |
Political offices | ||
In commission
Title last held by
The Lord Lyndhurst |
Lord Chancellor 1836 – 1841 |
Succeeded by The Lord Lyndhurst |
Preceded by The Lord Lyndhurst |
Lord Chancellor 1846 – 1850 |
Succeeded by The Lord Truro |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
New creation | Earl of Cottenham 1850 – 1851 |
Succeeded by Charles Edward Pepys |
Baron Cottenham 1836 – 1851 |
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Baronetage of Great Britain | ||
Preceded by Henry Leslie |
Baronet (of Juniper Hill) 1833 – 1851 |
Succeeded by Charles Edward Pepys |
Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by William Pepys |
Baronet (of London) 1825 – 1851 |
Succeeded by Charles Edward Pepys |
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