The Viscount Cowdray | |
---|---|
Born | 27 February 1910 |
Died | 19 January 1995 84) | (aged
Spouse(s) | Lady Anne Bridgeman Elizabeth Mather-Jackson |
Issue | 4 daughters and 2 sons |
Parents | Harold Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray Agnes Beryl Spencer-Churchill |
Lt Col (Weetman) John Churchill Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray (27 February 1910 - 19 January 1995) TD DL was a British peer, businessman and polo player.
Weetman John Churchill Pearson and his twin sister, Angela was born on 27 February 1910 in Whitehall. [1] [2] They had four sisters.
His father was Harold Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray. [1] His paternal grandfather was Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray.
His mother was Agnes Beryl Spencer-Churchill. [1] His maternal great-grandfather was George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough.
He attended Eton College and graduated from Christ Church, Oxford. He resided in Cowdray Park in Midhurst, West Sussex.
Pearson fought in the Second World War, and his left arm was amputated as a result. He received the Territorial Decoration for his service. He attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel from 1940 to 1941 in the British Home Guard.
He served as parliamentary private secretary to the Under-Secretary of State for Air, Harold Balfour, 1st Baron Balfour of Inchrye, from 1941 to 1942. [2]
He served as deputy lieutenant) of Sussex in 1945, during the tenure of Charles Wyndham, 3rd Baron Leconfield as the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, which spanned 1917 to 1949.
He served as chairman of S. Pearson & Son Ltd from 1954 to 1977, and as president of Pearson PLC from 1983 to 1995. [2]
When he went up to Oxford he played for four years with the Oxford polo team. In 1932 he captained the Oxford team which won the Tyro Cup, then still a Hurlingham tournament (now at Cowdray). [3]
He was the main driving force for the revival of polo in England after the Second World War. [4] He played polo despite having lost his arm at Dunkirk. He had an artificial limb fitted so he could continue to play. [5]
In 1948 or 1949, he played with the English team in the Argentinian Open. [4] In 1951 he revived the Coronation Cup and in 1956 he launched his own major trophy, the Cowdray Park Gold Cup, which remains to this day the main trophy for British Open Polo. [5]
He served as steward and chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Association from 1947 to 1967. [4]
Cowdray married Lady Anne Bridgeman, a daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford, on 19 July 1939. [6] They had three children:
Viscount and Viscountess Cowdray divorced in 1950 and on 4 March 1953 Cowdray married Elizabeth Mather-Jackson, daughter of Sir Anthony Mather-Jackson, 6th Baronet. They also had three children:
Cowdray died on 19 January 1995, at the age of eighty-four. Viscountess Cowdray died on 23 September 2011.
Earl of Bradford is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was first created in 1694 for Francis Newport, 2nd Baron Newport. However, all the Newport titles became extinct on the death of the fourth Earl in 1762. The earldom was revived in 1815 for Orlando Bridgeman, 2nd Baron Bradford. The Bridgeman family had previously succeeded to the Newport estates. The title of the peerage refers to the ancient hundred of Bradford in Shropshire, and not, as might be assumed, to the city of Bradford, Yorkshire, or the town of Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire.
Viscount Cowdray, of Cowdray in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for the industrialist Weetman Pearson, 1st Baron Cowdray, head of the Pearson conglomerate. He had already been created a Baronet, of Paddockhurst, in the Parish of Worth, in the County of Sussex, and of Airlie Gardens, in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of London, on 26 June 1894, and Baron Cowdray, of Midhurst in the County of Sussex, in 1910. His son, the second Viscount, sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Eye. His son, the third Viscount, after serving in World War II where he lost an arm, was Chairman of the family firm of Pearson Plc from 1954 to 1977. The titles are held by the latter's son, the fourth Viscount, who succeeded in 1995.
William Clive Bridgeman, 1st Viscount Bridgeman, PC, JP, DL was a British Conservative politician and peer. He notably served as Home Secretary between 1922 and 1924. He was also an active cricketer.
Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray,, known as Sir Weetman Pearson, Bt between 1894 and 1910, and as Lord Cowdray between 1910 and 1917, was a British engineer, oil industrialist, benefactor and Liberal politician. He was the owner of the Pearson conglomerate.
Orlando George Charles Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford, PC, DL, styled Viscount Newport between 1825 and 1865, was a British courtier and Conservative politician. In a ministerial career spanning over thirty years, he notably served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household between 1866 and 1868 and as Master of the Horse between 1874 and 1880 and again between 1885 and 1886.
The park lies near Easebourne, West Sussex, in the South Downs National Park. The estate belongs to Viscount Cowdray, whose family have owned it since 1909. It has a golf course, and it offers clay pigeon shooting and corporate activity days, as well as the more traditional activities of agriculture, forestry and property lets.
Arthur Annesley, 11th Viscount Valentia, was a British soldier, courtier and Conservative Party politician. He notably served as Comptroller of the Household between 1898 and 1905.
Robin John Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Viscount Bridgeman,, is a British hereditary peer and politician. He is a member of the House of Lords, and sits as a Conservative.
Lieutenant-Colonel Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford, DL, JP, styled Viscount Newport from 1898 to 1915, was a British peer, Conservative politician and soldier. He was a major landowner, owning up to 20,000 acres (8,100 ha).
Sir Anthony Henry Mather-Jackson, 6th Baronet was an English colliery owner and manufacturer. He was an all-round cricketer who played for Derbyshire from 1920 to 1927.
Charles Torquil de Montalt Fraser was High Sheriff of West Sussex in 2006–07.
Weetman Harold Miller Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray,, styled The Honourable Harold Pearson between 1910 and 1927, was a British peer and Liberal Party politician.
The Hon. Charles Pearson is the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray and owner of Dunecht estate in Aberdeenshire.
Arthur Ingram, 3rd Viscount of Irvine was an English Member of Parliament and peer. He was the Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire and Member of Parliament for Yorkshire and Scarborough. He was the father or grandfather of all the later Viscounts Irvine.
Henry Ingram, 7th Viscount of Irvine, styled The Honourable Henry Ingram until 1736, was an English landowner and politician.
Michael Orlando Weetman Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray, of Cowdray Park in West Sussex, is a landowner in West Sussex with 16,500 acres (6,700 ha) and is a major shareholder of the FTSE 100 company Pearson plc, the construction, now publishing, company founded by his ancestor in the 19th century.
The Oxford University Polo Club is the Discretionary Full Blue sports club for competitive polo at Oxford University. Founded in 1874, it is one of the four oldest continuing polo clubs worldwide. Its annual Varsity Match against Cambridge University Polo Club, established in 1878, is the second oldest continuing polo fixture in the Western world. It is played at Guards Polo Club, England, usually at the beginning of June.
The Varsity Polo Match is an annual polo match between the Oxford University Polo Club and the Cambridge University Polo Club, played between teams of four players. Historically it was known as the inter-University Challenge Cup or inter-Varsity polo match. It is also known as the University Polo Match or by a title that includes the name of its current sponsor. Members of both teams are traditionally known as Blues, with Oxford in dark blue and Cambridge in light blue.
Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray, GBE was an English society hostess, suffragist and philanthropist. She was nicknamed the "Fairy Godmother of Nursing" due to her financial patronage of the Royal College of Nursing and her work to promote district nursing throughout England and Scotland. She served as the President of the Women's Liberal Federation from 1921 until 1923 and was also the Honorary Treasurer of the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union. She was the only woman to hold the office of High Steward of Colchester, serving from 1927 until her death in 1932.
Ida Bridgeman, Countess of Bradford, was a British noblewoman who served as a Lady of the Bedchamber for Mary of Teck. She was the wife of George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford, and the mother of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford.