(1709 - 64), s. of 1st E. Cowper; suc. fa. 1723 as 2nd E.; Exeter Oxf. 1725; FRS 1732; m. 1 1732 Ldy. Henrietta Nassau (d. 1747), dau. and coh. of 1st E. of Grantham, 2 1750 Ldy. Georgiana Carteret, dau. of 2nd E. Granville, wid. of Hon. John Spencer; Dilettante 1737.
1729 - 30 Venice (Dec. 1729 - Feb. 1730), Rome (Feb. - Mar), Naples (Apr.), Rome (May), Leghorn, Pisa, Lucca, Florence (Jun.), Bologna, Parma, Milan, Turin, Genoa
Lord Cowper travelled with Dr Joseph Atwell as his bear-leader. They reached Venice in December 1729 (see Atwell) and Cowper's intention to stay until the end of the Carnival was noted on 20 January.1 But that month he fell seriously ill and received by post a diagnosis and prescription from a British doctor, John Hollings.2 He was, however, determined to continue his tour and with the prescribed diet of 'asses milk' his recovery was complete by the time he had reached Rome. Stosch noted his arrival there on 16 February; on 30 March he had decided Cowper was a man of great merit, and on 28 May he reported his departure, 'a gentle docile creature'.3
His letters to his sister Lady Sarah say much about opera performances, and one records a lost portrait of Cowper by Rosalba Carriera which was sent by sea to England;4 his sister received it on 26 August and observed that 'if it was like him as I am told, he must have been extremely changed by his illness'.5 In Rome much time was spent studying antiquity and there were also excursions to Tivoli and Naples. From Rome Cowper and Atwell sailed to Leghorn before seeing Pisa, Lucca, Florence, Bologna, Parma, Milan, Turin and Genoa. Atwell's correspondence gives further details about the visit.
1. SP 99/63, f.123 (Burges). 2. Black 1992, 186 - 7. 3. SP 98/32, ff.27, 47, 67. 4. Hertford CRO, d/ep f234, f.130. 5. 26 Aug. 1730 os; quoted by J. Black, British Soc.for 18th cen. Studies Bull., 38, Mar. 1995, 13.
H.G. B.