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William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper

English lawyer and politician
Also known as: Baron Cowper of Wingham, William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, Viscount Fordwich(Show More)

William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper (born c. 1665—died Oct. 10, 1723, Colne Green, Hertfordshire, Eng.) was an English lawyer and a leading Whig politician who was the first lord high chancellor of Great Britain. The elder son of Sir William Cowper, 2nd Baronet, he was educated at St. Albans School and was called to the bar in 1688. Having promptly given his allegiance to William of Orange, he was made recorder of Colchester in 1694...