Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham
(1781-1851), Lord ChancellorEarly Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 14 portraits
Pepys was called to the Bar in 1804, and ran a highly successful legal practice. In 1830, he was appointed Solicitor General to Queen Adelaide, a post he held for two years. He entered Parliament as MP in 1831, where he rarely spoke except on purely legal questions. At the time there was a shortage of lawyers in the House of Commons and, to the surprise of many, in 1834 Pepys was appointed both Solicitor General and Master of the Rolls. He became Lord Chancellor in 1836. Although little remembered as a politician or as a law reformer, he was praised for his work as a judge.
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