Up for auction a RARE! "1st Earl of Lonsdale" William Lowther Signed Free Frank Dated 1832.

ES-8495E

William

Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale KG (29 December 1757 – 19 March

1844), also known as Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Little

Preston, from 1788 to 1802, and William Lowther, 2nd Viscount

Lowther, from 1802 to 1807, was a British Tory politician and

nobleman known for building Lowther

Castle. Lowther was the eldest son of Rev. Sir William

Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Little

Preston and Swillington,

and his wife Anne Zouch. His younger brother was Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet,

who also married a daughter of the 9th Earl of Westmorland.

His father, an ordained priest who served as rector of Swillington from

1757 to 1788, inherited the estate of Swillington in 1763, upon the death of

his first cousin Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet.

His father, a son of Christopher Lowther, was a grandson of Sir William Lowther. His maternal

grandparents were Charles Zouch, vicar of Sandal Magna,

and the former Dorothy Norton (daughter of Gervase Norton). Through his mother,

his uncles were Henry and Thomas Zouch.

He

was educated at Westminster, 1771, and Trinity College, Cambridge, 1776. Like

many members of the Lowther family, he followed the politics of his

cousin, Sir James Lowther, 5th Baronet (later

the 1st Earl of Lonsdale), but he seems to have shown a

tendency towards independence.[3] Lowther

was briefly Member of Parliament for Appleby in 1780,

for Carlisle from 1780 to

1784 and for Cumberland from 1784

to 1790. In 1796, he was returned as Member of Parliament for Rutland, holding the seat

until 1802. On

15 June 1788, he succeeded his father as the second baronet, of

Little Preston. In 1802, he inherited by special remainder the

titles of Viscount Lowther and Baron Lowther from

his third cousin twice removed, the 1st Earl of Lonsdale of

the first creation, as well as his immense estates. He was also appointed to

the northern Lord Lieutenancies of Cumberland and Westmorland. In 1807,

Lowther was himself created Earl of

Lonsdale and appointed a Knight of the Garter. A coal magnate, he

spent £200,000 on the Lowther estate and built a new Lowther

Castle. A Tory in politics, he seems to have been tolerant and

well-liked, disdaining sabbatarianism[4] and

serving as patron for a number of painters and authors, including William Wordsworth.