| Earl Cowley | |
|---|---|
  Arms: Quarterly: 1st & 4th, Gules, a Cross Argent, in each quarter five Plates saltirewise (Wellesley); 2nd & 3rd, Or, a Lion rampant Gules, ducally gorged Gold (Cowley); over all at fess point an Annulet for difference. Crest: Out of a Ducal Coronet Or, a Demi-Lion rampant Gules, holding a Staff erect proper, and therefrom flowing to the sinister, a forked Pennon, from the Staff two thirds per pale Argent and Gules, charged with a Cross Gules. Supporters: On either side a Lion Gules, ducally gorged and chained reflexed over the back Or, charged on the shoulder with an Annulet for difference. | |
| Creation date | 11 April 1857 |
| Creation | First |
| Created by | Queen Victoria |
| Peerage | Peerage of the United Kingdom |
| First holder | Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley |
| Present holder | Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl Cowley |
| Heir apparent | Henry Wellesley, Viscount Dangan |
| Remainder to | the 1st Earl’s heirs male of the body legally begotten |
| Subsidiary titles | Viscount Dangan Baron Cowley |
| Status | Extant |
| Motto | PORRO UNUM EST NECESSARIUM (Moreover, one thing is necessary) |
Earl Cowley is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1857 for the diplomat Henry Wellesley, 2nd Baron Cowley. He was Ambassador to France from 1852 to 1867. He was made Viscount Dangan, of Dangan in the County of Meath, at the same time as he was given the earldom.[1] This title is also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lord Cowley was the eldest son of Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley, who like his son served as Ambassador to France. In 1828 he was created Baron Cowley, of Wellesley in the County of Somerset, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[2] A member of the prominent Wellesley family, Cowley was the fifth and youngest son of Garret Wellesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, and the younger brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley.
The first Earl was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards and fought in the Crimean War. His great-great-grandson (the titles having descended from father to son), the sixth Earl, served as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from January to March 1974 in the Conservative government of Edward Heath. He was succeeded in 1975 by his uncle, the seventh Earl, who was the eldest son from the second marriage of the fourth Earl and the half-brother of the fifth Earl. As of 2017[update] the titles are held by the latter's son, the eighth Earl, who succeeded in 2016. As a male-line descendant of the first Earl of Mornington, he is also in remainder to this peerage and its subsidiary titles, which are now held by his kinsman the Duke of Wellington.
- ^ "No. 21986". The London Gazette. 7 April 1857. p. 1264.
- ^ "No. 18433". The London Gazette. 18 January 1828. p. 122.