| Viscount Cowdray | |
|---|---|
 Escutcheon of the Viscounts Cowdray | |
| Creation date | 3 January 1917[1] |
| Created by | George V |
| Peerage | Peerage of the United Kingdom |
| First holder | Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray |
| Present holder | Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray |
| Heir apparent | Peregrine Pearson |
| Status | Extant |
| Seat(s) | Cowdray Park |
| Motto | Do it with thy might[1] |
Viscount Cowdray, of Cowdray in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[2][3] 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,[4] and Baron Cowdray, of Midhurst in the County of Sussex, in 1910.[5] 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.[6]
The family seat is Cowdray Park, West Sussex, near Midhurst, Sussex,[7] which the 4th Viscount put up for sale in 2011 and later proposed converting into apartments.[8]
- ^ a b Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. London: Debrett's Peerage. 2000. p. P393. ISBN 033354577X.
- ^ "No. 29924". The London Gazette. 30 January 1917. p. 1053.
- ^ Hesilrige, Arthur G. M. (1921). Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy. London: Dean & Son. p. 244.
- ^ "No. 26526". The London Gazette. 26 June 1894. p. 3652.
- ^ "No. 28398". The London Gazette. 22 July 1910. p. 5268.
- ^ "Obituaries: Viscount Cowdray". independent.co.uk. 21 January 1995.
- ^ "Meet the Cowdrays: The family at the heart of British polo". tatler.com. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ "Viscount Cowdray to convert ancestral home into luxury flats". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022.