Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham

Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham, PC, QC (/ˈpɛpɪs/;[1] 29 April 1781  29 April 1851[2]) was an English lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.


The Earl of Cottenham

Lord Cottenham wearing ceremonial robes when presiding in the House of Lords as Lord Chancellor. Detail of a painting by Charles Robert Leslie.
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office
16 January 1836  30 August 1841
MonarchWilliam IV
Victoria
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Melbourne
Preceded byIn Commission
Succeeded byThe Lord Lyndhurst
In office
6 July 1846  19 June 1850
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterLord John Russell
Preceded byThe Lord Lyndhurst
Succeeded byIn Commission
Member of Parliament
for Malton
In office
September 1831  January 1836
Served alongside Henry Gally Knight, Viscount Milton and John Charles Ramsden
Preceded byLord Cavendish of Keighley
Henry Gally Knight
Succeeded byJohn Childers
John Charles Ramsden
Member of Parliament
for Higham Ferrers
In office
July 1831  October 1831
Preceded byViscount Milton
Succeeded byJohn Ponsonby
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
January 1836  April 1851
Hereditary Peerage
Succeeded byCharles Edward Pepys
Personal details
Born(1781-04-29)29 April 1781
Wimpole Street, London
Died29 April 1851(1851-04-29) (aged 70)
Pietra Santa, Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
NationalityBritish
Political partyWhig
Spouse(s)Caroline Wingfield-Baker (1801–1868)
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge

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 School and Trinity College, Cambridge, Pepys was called to the bar of Lincoln's Inn in 1804.[3][4]

Practising 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 ministry's defeat in August 1841.[3]

Earldom

In February 1841, during the trial of Lord Cardigan for attempted murder, Cottenham claimed ill health, leaving the task of presiding as Lord High Steward to the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, Lord Denman.[5] In 1846 he again became Lord Chancellor in Lord John Russell's administration. His health, however, had been 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,[3] 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, Lucca, in the Italian Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in April 1851,[3] aged 70, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles. Lady Cottenham died in April 1868, aged 66 at The Cedars in Sunninghill, Berkshire.[6]. Cottenham's niece Emily Pepys (1833–1887), daughter of Henry Pepys, Bishop of Worcester, was a child diarist.

References

  1. This branch of the family pronounced the name "Peppis", not "Peeps", like the diarist. Gillian Avery: Introduction. In: The Journal of Emily Pepys (London: Prospect Books, 1984. ISBN 0-907325-24-6), p. 11.
  2. Jones, Gareth H. "Pepys, Charles Christopher". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21902. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cottenham, Charles Christopher Pepys". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 252–253. This cites:
    • Campbell, Lives of the Lord Chancellors (1869)
    • E. Foss, The Judges of England (1848–1864)
    • E. Manson, Builders of our Law (1904)
    • J. B. Atlay, The Victorian Chancellors (1906)
  4. "Pepys, Charles Christopher (PPS797CC)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. Woodham-Smith, Cecil (1995) [1953]. The Reason Why. Smithmark. p. 77.
  6. The Gentleman's Magazine. A. Dodd and A. Smith. 1868. p. 689.
Political offices
Preceded by
In Commission
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
1836–1841
Succeeded by
The Lord Lyndhurst
Preceded by
The Lord Lyndhurst
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
18461850
In commission
Title next held 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
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Harry Leslie
Baronet
(of Brook Street)
1849–1851
Succeeded by
Charles Edward Pepys
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
William Pepys
Baronet
(of Wimpole Street)
1845–1851
Succeeded by
Charles Edward Pepys
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