View source for Earl of Cottenham

{{short description|Earldom in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox nobility title
| name              = Earldom of Cottenham 
| image             = [[File:Coronet of a British Earl.svg|150px|center]] [[File:Earl of Cottenham COA.svg|180px|Arms of the Earl of Cottenham]] 
| image_size        =  
| alt               =  
| caption           = ''Sable, on a Bend Or, between two Nag's Heads erased Argent, three Fleurs-de-lis Sable.''
| creation_date     = 11 June 1850 
| creation          =  
| monarch           = [[Queen Victoria]] 
| peerage           = [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]] 
| baronetage        =  
| first_holder      = [[Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham]] 
| last_holder       =  
| present_holder    = Mark Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham
| heir_apparent     =  Charlie Pepys, Viscount Crowhurst
| heir_presumptive  = 
| remainder_to      = the 1st Earl's [[heirs male of the body]] legally begotten 
| subsidiary_titles = Viscount Crowhurst<br />Baron Cottenham 
| status            =  
| extinction_date   =  
| family_seat       =  
| former_seat       =  
| motto             = ''Mens Cujusque is est quisque'' <br />("Each man's character is his true self") 
| footnotes         =  
}}

[[Image:Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham by Charles Robert Leslie cropped.jpg|thumb|200px|Charles Christopher Pepys, <br /> 1st Earl of Cottenham]]
'''Earl of Cottenham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|t|ən|ə|m}}), of [[Cottenham]] in the [[Cambridgeshire (historic)|County of Cambridge]], is a title in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]. It was created in 1850 for the prominent lawyer and [[Whig Party (UK)|Whig]] politician [[Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham|Charles Pepys, 1st Baron Cottenham]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=21101 |date=4 June 1850 |page=1568}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɛ|p|ɪ|s}}){{refn|group=n|Pronounced "peppis", not "peeps" in this branch of the family. [[Gillian Avery]]: Introduction. In: ''The Journal of Emily Pepys'' (London: Prospect Books, 1984. {{ISBN|0-907325-24-6}}), p. 11.}}<ref>per Debretts Peerage, 1968, p.287</ref> He served as  [[Lord Chancellor]] 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,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=19348 |date=19 January 1836 |page=100}}</ref> and was made '''Viscount Crowhurst''', of [[Crowhurst, Surrey|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]] for the Earl's eldest son and heir apparent.

In 1845 Lord Cottenham succeeded his elder brother as third Baronet, of Wimpole Street, and in 1849 he also succeeded his cousin as fourth Baronet, of Brook Street, according to a special remainder in the letters patent. The '''Baronetcy''', of [[Wimpole Street]], was created in the [[Baronetage of the United Kingdom]] in 1801 for Lord Cottenham's father [[Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet|William Pepys]], a [[Court of Chancery|Master in Chancery]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=15372 |date=2 June 1801 |page=619}}</ref> The '''Baronetcy''', of [[Brook Street]], was created in the [[Baronetage of Great Britain]] in 1784 for Lucas Pepys.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=12502 |date=20 December 1783 |page=1}}</ref>  {{As of|2010}} the titles are held by the first Earl's great-great-great-grandson, the ninth Earl, who succeeded his father in 2000.

The title of the earldom is derived from the village of [[Cottenham]] in [[Cambridgeshire]], birthplace of John Pepys, ancestor of the first Earl, and great-uncle of [[Samuel Pepys]] the diarist. Another member of the Pepys family was [[Henry Pepys]], third son of Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet, and younger brother of the first Earl. He was [[Bishop of Worcester]] from 1841 to 1860.

The family seat is Priory Manor, near [[Kington St Michael]], [[Wiltshire]].

==Pepys baronets, of Wimpole Street (1801)==
*[[William Weller Pepys|Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet]] (1740–1825), created baronet 23 June 1801.<ref>{{cite book|last=Burke|first=Bernard|authorlink=Bernard Burke|editor=Ashworth P. Burke|title=A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage|edition=65th|year=1903|publisher=Harrison and Sons|location=London|page=368}}</ref>
*Sir William Weller Pepys, 2nd Baronet (1778–1845)
*[[Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham|Sir Charles Pepys, 3rd Baronet]] (1781–1851) (created '''Baron Cottenham''' in 1836 and '''Earl of Cottenham''' in 1850)

==Earls of Cottenham (1850)==
*[[Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham|Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham]] (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 Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham|Mark Everard Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham]] (1903–1943), a racing driver <ref>{{cite web|title=History of roadcraft|url=http://www.worcsgam.org.uk/history_of_roadcraft.html}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
*[[Digby Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham|John Digby Thomas Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham]] (1907–1968)
*[[Charles Pepys, 8th Earl of Cottenham|Kenelm Charles Everard Digby Pepys, 8th Earl of Cottenham]] (1948–2000), a cricketer <ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary: The Earl of Cottenham|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1371795/The-Earl-of-Cottenham.html|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|date=26 Oct 2000}}</ref>
*Mark John Henry Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham (b. 1983)
==Present peer==
Mark John Henry Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham (born 11 October 1983) is the elder son of the 8th Earl of Cottenham and his wife Sarah Lombard-Hobson. He was styled as Viscount Crowhurst between 1983 and 20 October 2000, when he succeeded to the peerages and baronetcies. He has an older sister, Lady Georgina Pepys (born 1981), and a younger brother, Sam Richard Pepys (born 1986).<ref name=BP2003>''[[Burke's Peerage]]'', volume 1 (2003), p. 908</ref>

In 2019, the fund manager Bite Investments appointed Cottenham as its Head of Operations for China<ref name=WW>"Cottenham, 9th Earl of, (Mark John Henry Pepys) (born 11 Oct. 1983)", ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]'' online edition, accessed 20 February 2023 {{subscription required}}</ref>

The [[heir apparent]] is Cottenham's son Charlie Thomas Crowhurst Pepys, Viscount Crowhurst (born 2020).<ref name=WW/>

==Pepys baronets, of Brook Street (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 Earl of Cottenham|Charles Pepys, 1st Baron Cottenham, 4th Baronet]] (1781–1851)
''see Earls of Cottenham for further succession''

==Notes and citations==
;Citations
{{Reflist|colwidth=33em}}
;Notes
{{reflist|group=n}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2013}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last=Hesilrige |first=Arthur G. M. |date=1921| title=Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy| url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeeraget00unse/page/235 | location=[[London]] |publisher=[[Dean & Son]]|page=235}}
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}

==External links==
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-charles-pepys | Charles Edward Pepys, 2nd Earl of Cottenham }}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-william-pepys | William John Pepys, 3rd Earl of Cottenham }}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-kenelm-pepys-1 | Kenelm Charles Edward Pepys, 4th Earl of Cottenham }}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-kenelm-pepys-2 | Kenelm Charles Francis Pepys, 5th Earl of Cottenham }}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-mark-pepys | Mark Everard Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham }}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-pepys | John Digby Thomas Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham }}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-kenelm-pepys | Kenelm Charles Everard Digby Pepys, 8th Earl of Cottenham }}
{{Extant British earldoms}}

{{start box}}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{succession box 
| title= [[File:Ulster.svg|20px]]<br />Pepys baronets<br /> ''of Wimpole Street''
| before= [[Strachey baronets]]
| years= 23 June 1801
| after= [[Ball Baronets of Blofield (1801)|Ball baronets]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottenham}}
[[Category:Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1784 establishments in Great Britain]]
[[Category:1801 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1850 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1850]]
[[Category:Peerages created for lord high chancellors of Great Britain|Earl of Cottenham]]