Earl of Cottenham
Encyclopedia
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. It was created in 1850 for the prominent lawyer and Whig politician Charles Pepys, 1st Baron Cottenham
Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham
Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham PC KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
. He served as Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
from 1836 to 1841 and from 1846 to 1850. Pepys had already been created Baron Cottenham, of Cottenham in the County of Cambridge, in 1836, and was made Viscount Crowhurst, of Crowhurst in the County of Surrey, at the same time he was given the earldom. These titles are also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The viscountcy is used as a courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
for the Earl's eldest son and heir apparent.
In 1845 Lord Cottenham succeeded his elder brother as third Baronet, of London, and in 1849 he also succeeded his cousin as fourth Baronet, of Juniper Hill, according to a special remainder in the letters patent. The Baronetcy, of London, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom in 1801 for Lord Cottenham's father William Pepys, a Master in Chancery. The Baronetcy, of Juniper Hill in the County of Surrey, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1784 for Lucas Pepys. the titles are held by the first Earl's great-great-great-grandson, the ninth Earl, who succeeded his father in 2000.
As of 30 June 2006, the present holder of the earldom has not successfully proven his succession to the baronetcies and is therefore not on the Official Roll of the Baronetage (for more information follow this link).
The title of the earldom is derived from the village of Cottenham
Cottenham
Cottenham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. It is close to The Fens. Before the fens were drained in the 19th century Cottenham was on the last contour before the waterlogged marshes, with Ely being the nearest dry land around to the north-east....
in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, birthplace of John Pepys, ancestor of the first Earl, and great-uncle of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
the diarist. Another member of the Pepys family was Henry Pepys
Henry Pepys
Henry Pepys was a Church of England Bishop of Worcester.-Biography:Pepys was born in Wimpole Street, London, the son of Sir William Weller Pepys , a master in chancery, who was descended from John Pepys, of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, the great-grandfather of Samuel Pepys the diarist...
, third son of Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet, and younger brother of the first Earl. He was Bishop of Worcester
Bishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
from 1841 to 1860.
Pepys Baronets, of London (1801)
- Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet (1740–1825)
- Sir William Weller Pepys, 2nd Baronet (d. 1845)
- Sir Charles Pepys, 3rd BaronetCharles Pepys, 1st Earl of CottenhamCharles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham PC KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
(1781–1851) (created Baron Cottenham in 1833 and Earl of Cottenham in 1850)
Earls of Cottenham (1850)
- Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of CottenhamCharles Pepys, 1st Earl of CottenhamCharles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham PC KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
(1781–1851) - Charles Edward Pepys, 2nd Earl of Cottenham (1824–1863)
- William John Pepys, 3rd Earl of Cottenham (1825–1881)
- Kenelm Charles Edward Pepys, 4th Earl of Cottenham (1874–1919)
- Kenelm Charles Francis Pepys, 5th Earl of Cottenham (1901–1922)
- Mark Everard Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham (1903–1943)
- John Digby Thomas Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham (1907–1968)
- Kenelm Charles Everard Digby Pepys, 8th Earl of Cottenham (1948–2000)
- Mark John Henry Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham (b. 1983)
The heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
is the present holder's brother, Hon. Sam Richard Pepys (b. 1986)
Pepys Baronets, of Juniper Hill (1784)
- Sir Lucas Pepys, 1st Baronet (1742–1830)
- Sir Charles Leslie, 2nd Baronet (1774–1833)
- Sir Henry Leslie, 3rd Baronet (1783–1849)
- Charles Pepys, 1st Baron Cottenham, 4th BaronetCharles Pepys, 1st Earl of CottenhamCharles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham PC KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
(1781–1851)
see Earls of Cottenham for further succession