IN AUSTRALIA
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Cowper, Charles (1807 - 1875) |
Birth: Death: Religious Influence: Occupation: Marriage: Married:
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Sir Charles Cowper, Pastoralist and NSW Premier Charles Cowper was the third son of William and Hannah Cowper, née Horner, born on 26 April 1807 at Drypool, Yorkshire. England, where his father was commencing studies for Ordination into the Church of England, after having recently been discharged from the North Yorkshire Militia. The acceptance of the position of Assistant Colonial Chaplain by William resulted in the sailing of the family (three sons; Henry, Thomas, Charles and a daughter, Mary Stephena and William’s second wife, Ann) aboard the brig ‘Indispensible’. The family left Portsmouth, England on 02 March 1809 arriving in Sydney on 18 August 1809. Educated privately, he entered the Commissariat Department in 1825 at age 18 and he was appointed Clerk of Corporation of the Church and Schools Lands Corporation on the 27 April 1826 and served until 1833.
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During this period he was appointed Clerk to the Commissioners for managing the Affairs of the Church and School estates on 6 April 1831.
Then on Saturday 8 October 1831 the then 24 year old Charles Cowper was married by his father William at St John’s Church, Parramatta to Eliza Sutton, daughter of Daniel Sutton and Edith Ann Richardson from Wivenhoe, Essex, England.
Source: The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser - Tuesday 11 October 1831 Charles and Eliza went on to have a family of 7 children,
The family also had a stillborn daughter in 1842 who was not named. Two years later in 1833 the Church and Schools Land Corporation was dissolved and he declined another official post. Charles then farmed in Argyle, living as a country gentleman and interesting himself in sheep breeding, whilst also undertaking a very successful career in the NSW Parliament starting on the 1 Jul 1843 which at its pinnacle had Charles become the NSW Premier until accepting the post of Agent-General for New South Wales in London on 6 December 1870. By 1852 he had acquired by grant or purchase large estates in Argyle and town allotments in Goulburn. As a tenant of the Crown he held nearly 20,000 acres (8100 ha) in Argyle and 47,000 acres (19,020 ha) in the Lachlan pastoral district and also owned land in what is now northern Victoria, ‘Corryong’ station, which later gave its name to the township. In addition he owned “Wivenhoe”, 900 acres (364 ha) at Camden Park, which was named after his wife’s home town back in England, and had interests in Sydney real estate., Charles also had interest in ‘Clifton’ at Cowpastures which was owned by his father William, Thomas his brother also had interests.Career Highlights Charles Career was extensive and is summarised below.
Sir Charles Cowper remained in London until his death on 19 October 1875 at Eldon Road, Kensington, and was buried with his son William Harington Cowper and daughter Rose Cowper in the Highgate Cemetery (West Cemetery), London. The Headstone Inscription reads. "Sir Charles Cowper KCMG, born 26 April 1807, died 1875" His wife Eliza died on 17 January 1884 at "Carlsruke", near Bowral, NSW, and is buried in the Cowper family vault at St Paul's, Cobbitty, NSW.
Source: The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England), Thursday, October 21, 1875
Additional commentary can be found about Sir Charles Cowper at the following links, including that of Charles Cowper jnr. Australian Dictionary of Biography http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030447b.htm (Charles) http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030448b.htm (Charles Jnr)
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Grave of Sir Charles Cowper, also William Harington (d. 1856) and Rose Cowper (d. 1920) Highgate Cemetery, London (Courtesy Bill Brooks - September 2009)
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