18th-century British noble
William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper (13 August 1709 – 18 September 1764), styled Viscount Fordwich between 1718 and 1723, was an English peer and courtier.
Born William Cowper, he was the eldest son of William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper and his second wife Mary, daughter of John Clavering of Chopwell, County Durham. He later assumed the additional surname of Clavering on the death of his maternal uncle.
He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, matriculating in 1725 aged 16, created DCL in 1728.
He succeeded his father in the earldom in October 1723, aged 14. In 1744, he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, a post he held until his death. He was also a Lord of the Bedchamber to George II.
Lord Cowper was twice married. He married firstly Lady Henrietta, daughter of Henry de Nassau d'Auverquerque in 1732. After her death in September 1747, he married secondly Lady Georgiana Caroline Carteret, daughter of John Carteret, and widow of John Spencer, on 1 May 1750. He died on 18 September 1764, aged 55, and was succeeded in the earldom by his son from his first marriage, George Clavering-Cowper. The Countess Cowper died on 21 August 1780.
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