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Davidson, John Colin Campbell, 1st Viscount Davidson, only son of Sir James Mackenzie Davidson, Kt., M.B., C. M., of London, by Georgiana Barbara Watt, daughter of William Henderson, of Aberdeen; b. Feb. 23, 1889; adm. Jan. 15, 1903 (A); left July 1907; Pembroke Coll. Camb., matric. Michaelmas 1907; B.A. 1910; Private Secretary to several Cabinet Ministers, including the Rt. Hon. A. Bonar Law when Prime Minister, 1910-23; called to the bar at the Middle Temple June 4, 1913; M. P. Herts (Hemel Hempstead Div.) Nov. 1920 - Nov. 1923, and from Oct. 1924; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster June 1923 - Jan. 1924; Financial Secretary to the Admiralty Nov. 1924 - Nov. 1926; Chairman of the Conservative Party organization 1926-30; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1931-7; served in Home Guard in Great War II; Controller of Production, Ministry of Information 1941; C. B. Jan. 1, 1919; C. H. March 25, 1923; P. C. 1928; G. C. V. O. 1935; created a Viscount May 28, 1937; a Governor of the School July 1927; Busby Trustee 1929; president of the Elizabethan Club 1946-49; represented Westminster on Governing Bodies' Assn. 1949-59; m. April 10, 1919, the Hon. Frances Joan, younger daughter of Willoughby, 1st Baron Dickinson; d. 11 Dec. 1970.

CUMBERLAND, RICHARD, only son of Denison Cumberland (qv); b. 19 Feb 1732; adm. from Bury St. Edmunds Sch. Jan 1745/6 (Ludford's); Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 11 Jun 1747, scholar 1748, matr. 1748; 6th Wrangler 1750/1; BA 1750/1; MA 1754; Minor Fellow, Trinity Coll. 1752, Major Fellow 1753; private secretary to George, 2nd Earl of Halifax c. 1754-65; Crown Agent for Nova Scotia c. 1758 - ?; held post of Ulster Secretary Apr 1761 - Apr 1763 during Halifax’s term of office as Lord Lieut. Ireland; Solicitor and Clerk of Reports, Board of Trade 31 May 1765 - Jan 1776, Secretary to Board of Trade 23 Jan 1776 - 2 May 1782, when post abolished; on unsuccessful secret mission to Spain Jun 1780 - Apr 1781, seeking to secure a separate peace with that country; after the abolition of his government appointment he settled in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, holding a commission in local volunteers during Napoleonic Wars; author of numerous comedies, tragedies, translations and novels; his most successful play, The West Indian, was produced by Garrick in 1771 and ran for twenty-eight nights; described by Goldsmith in his Retaliation as “the Terence of England” and caricatured by Sheridan as Sir Fretful Plagiary in The Critic (see Lord Broughton, Recollections of a Long Life, i, 138); wrote with Sir John Bland Burges (qv) an epic called the Exodiad, 1808; author, The Observer, almost the last imitation of The Spectator; his Memoirs, published in 1807, contain several interesting references to the School and to his contemporaries there; m. 19 Feb 1759 Elizabeth, only dau. of George Ridge, Kilmeston, Hants.; d. 7 May 1811. Buried in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

CROFT, SIR THOMAS ELMSLEY, BART., third but eldest surviving son of Sir Richard Croft, Bart., MD, and Margaret, dau. of Thomas Denman MD; b. 2 Sep 1798; adm. Lady Day 1811; left 1813; Ensign, 1st Foot Guards 28 Apr 1814, half-pay 2 Mar 1820, retd. 29 Mar 1831; severely wounded at battle of Quatre Bras 16 Jun 1815; succ. father as 7th baronet 13 Feb 1818; FSA; m. 9 Sep 1824 Sophia Jane, only child of Richard Lateward-Lateward, Grove House, Perivale, Middlesex; d. 29 Oct 1835.

CROFT, SIR ARCHER DENMAN, BART., brother of Sir Thomas Elmsley Croft, Bart. (qv); b. 7 Dec 1801; adm. Mich. 1813; left 8 Aug 1816; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 21 Aug 1820, called to bar 30 Apr 1839 [check]; succ. his brother as 8th baronet 29 Oct 1835; a Master, Court of Queen’s Bench 1837-64; m. 31 Aug 1837 Julia Barbara, widow of Athelstan Corbet, Ynys-y-Maengwyn, Merionethshire, and youngest dau. of Major-Gen. John Garstin, EICS Bengal, successively Surveyor-Gen. and Chief Engineer, Bengal; d. 10 Jan 1865.

CREIGHTON, ROBERT, son of Thomas Creighton, and Margaret Stuart; b. 1593; adm. 1607; KS; elected head to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1613, adm. scholar 1614; BA 1617/8; MA 1621 (incorp. Oxford 15 Jul 1628); DD Oxford 21 Feb 1642/3; Fellow, Trinity Coll. 1619- c. 1621; Professor of Greek, Cambridge 1625-39; Public Orator 1627-39; ordained; Prebendary of Lincoln 18 Mar 1631/2 – Jun 1670; Prebendary and Treasurer, Wells Dec. 1632 – Jun 1660, also Canon Residentiary 1 Apr 1633 – Jun 1660; Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles I; Rector of Huggate, Yorks., 1641; Dean of St. Buryan, Cornwall, 1642-5, sequestered; escaped to the Continent on the fall of Oxford, disguised as a labourer; member of exiled court of Charles II; tutor to Sir Ralph Verney’s son at The Hague 1652; Dean of Wells 29 Jun 1660 - Jun 1670; restored the cathedral; Rector of Uplowman, Devon 1665-70; Vicar of Cheddar, Somerset, 5 Sep 1665-70; consecrated Bishop of Bath and Wells 19 Jun 1670; author, Vera Historia Unionis inter Graecos et Latinos sive Concilii Florentini exactissima narratio, 1660; m. Frances, dau. of William Walrond; d. 21 Nov 1672. DNB.

CRAWLEY, RICHARD, second son of Rev. Richard Crawley, Rector of Rotherfield, Sussex, and of St. Mildred Poultry, London, and Mary, dau. of Owen Clutton, Greenwich, Kent; b. 31 May 1791; adm.; KS (aged 14) 1806; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1810, adm. pens. 7 Jun 1810, scholar 1811, matr. Mich. 1810; BA 1814; migr. to Magdalene Coll. Dec 1814; MA 1817; Fellow and Tutor, Magdalene Coll.; Proctor 1823-4; ordained deacon 19 Mar 1815, priest 29 Sep 1816 (both Ely); Vicar of Steeple Ashton cum Semington, Wilts., from 12 Jun 1828; Prebendary of Salisbury from 25 Feb 1843; d. unm. 9 Dec 1869.

COX, THOMAS, son of Rev. James Cox, St. James’s, London, and Eleanor ---; b.; adm.; BB; KS (aged 13) 1763; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 1 Jun 1768, Westminster Student 24 Dec 1768 - 26 Mar 1777 (expiry year of grace as Vicar of Badby-cum-Newnham); BA 1772; MA 1775; ordained; Vicar of Badby-cum-Newnham, Northants., from 11 Mar 1776; FSA 1798 [check]; m. 2 Mar 1783 Jane, eldest dau. of Robert Clavering (adm. 1737, qv); d. 3 Feb 1816.

COWPER, WILLIAM, son of John Cowper (qv), and his first wife; b. 15 Nov 1731; adm. Apr 1742 (Playford's); left 1749; articled to a solicitor 1750-2; adm. Middle Temple 29 Apr 1748, called to bar 14 Jun 1754; fell in love with his cousin Theodora, but the marriage was forbidden by her father; contributed verses to various papers; a member of the Nonsense Club, chiefly composed of Westminster men who dined together weekly; migrated to Inner Temple, adm. there 17 Jun 1757; owned chambers Inner Temple 1757 - still 1781; a Commissioner of Bankrupts (occurs in annual lists 1758-65); Clerk of Journals, House of Lords c. May - Nov 1763; the stress brought on by his acceptance of the appointment caused a suicide attempt and nervous breakdown; an inmate of Nathaniel Cotton’s private lunatic asylum at St. Albans, Dec 1763 - Jun 1765; lived with the Unwins at Huntingdon 1765-7 and subsequently with Mrs Unwin at Olney, where he was employed by the Rev. John Newton as a sort of lay-reader and district visitor; composed hymns, a number of which are printed in Newton’s Olney Hymns, 1779; became engaged to Mrs Unwin; again deranged 1773-5 and for part of that time a guest in Newton’s house; occupied himself in gardening and writing verse; published Anti-Thelypthora, 1781, an anonymous attack on the defence of polygamy written by his cousin Martin Madan (qv) in the previous year; published Poems, Feb 1782; wrote the famous ballad of John Gilpin, first published in The Public Advertiser, Nov 1782; began translating Homer 1784; published The Task, 1785; removed to Weston, Nov. 1786; again became insane 1787; published his translation of Homer, 1791; undertook to edit Milton; removed in 1795 to East Dereham, Norfolk, where Mrs Unwin died in the following year; a complete edition of his works was published in 15 vols. by Robert Southey (qv) in 1834-7; Cowper’s schooldays, to which he frequently refers in his correspondence, were probably the happiest days of his life, and his recollections of them afforded him much pleasure; he appears to have enjoyed playing cricket and football; his favourite friend was Sir William Russell, Bart. (qv), but he was “much intimate” with Walter Bagot (adm. 1739/40, qv); he had a “particular value” for Warren Hastings (qv), to whom he addressed some lines on his impeachment, and he showed his friendly feeling for Robert Lloyd (qv) in the verse epistle which he addressed to him in 1754; his poem Table Talk contains an interesting allusion to the custom in his time of awarding pieces of Maundy Money for a good copy of verses (lines 507-11); d. unm. 25 Apr 1800. Memorial window in baptistery of Westminster Abbey. DNB.

COWLEY, ABRAHAM, seventh and posthumous child of Thomas Cowley, St. Michael Le Querne, London, citizen and stationer; b. 1618; adm.; Min. Can. 1630; KS; author, Poetical Blossoms, dedicated to his schoolmaster Lambert Osbaldeston (qv) and published 1633; while in College he also wrote Love’s Riddle, a pastoral comedy, not published until 1638; failed to obtain election to either university 1636; Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 21 Apr 1636, scholar (by dispensatory letter from King) 14 Jun 1637; his Latin play, Naufragium Joculare, was played before the University by members of Trinity Coll. 2 Feb 1638; BA 1639/40; MA 1643; Minor Fellow, Trinity Coll., from 30 Oct 1640; ejected by Parliamentary Visitors 1644 and went to Oxford, taking up residence in St. John’s Coll.; went abroad 1646; employed in diplomatic services by exiled Royalist court; returned to England as Royalist spy 1656; author, Miscellanies, 1656; MD Oxford 2 Dec 1657 (incorp. Cambridge 11 Jul 1664); withdrew to France, but returned at Restoration; applied for Mastership of Savoy 1661, unsuccessfully; one of original fellows of Royal Society; his works were first published in a collected form in 1668, when Several Discourses by way of Essays in Prose and Verse appeared for the first time; some hitherto unpublished Verses on the Happy Birth of the Duke of York are printed in the Elizabethan, v, 54-5, viii, 281; d. 28 Jul 1667, and buried in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

COVENTRY, HON. THOMAS HENRY, fourth son of George William Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry (qv) and his second wife; b. 18 Sep 1792; adm. 18 Jan 1805; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 17 Oct 1811; BA 1815; MA 1827; ordained deacon and priest, 1816; Rector of Pirton with Croome D’Abitot, Worcs., 1 Nov 1816-33; Rector of Hill Croome, Worcs., from 19 Feb 1827; Rector of Severn Stoke, Worcs., from 2 Mar 1833; d. 20 Aug 1869.