Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray

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The Viscount Cowdray
Born (1944-06-17) 17 June 1944 (age 79)
Spouse(s) Ellen Erhardt
Marina Rose Cordle Pearson
Parents Weetman Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray
Lady Anne Pamela Bridgeman

Michael Orlando Weetman Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray DL (born 17 June 1944)[1] is a British peer and film producer. He is the 65th richest person and the 10th largest landowner in the United Kingdom.

Biography

Early life

Lord Cowdray is the son of Weetman Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray (1910–1995).[1][2][3] His great-grandfather, Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray (1856–1927), had been created Viscount Cowdray in 1917.[1][4] His mother was Lady Anne Pamela Bridgeman (1913–2009)[1] daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford (1873–1957).[1] He has a half-brother, Charles Anthony Pearson, who owns the Dunecht estate, including Dunecht House, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[4]

He attended Gordonstoun School, a boarding school in Elgin, Moray, Scotland.[4]

Career

He dabbled in farming and later in finance, working in the City of London.[4] He then served in the British Army.[4]

In the late 1960s, he started a career as a film producer, running the film production company Cupid Productions.[3][5][6] He produced Sympathy for the Devil, a film starring The Rolling Stones and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, in 1968.[6][7]

Personal life

In 1970, he had a child out of wedlock, Sebastian William Orlando Pearson, with Barbara Page.[1] In 1977 he was married Ellen Erhardt.[1] They lived in Ibiza, Spain.[4] They were divorced in 1984. In 1985, he was listed in Debrett's Peerage as a resident of Le Schuylkill, a high-rise building in Monaco.[8]

In 1987, he married Marina Rose Cordle, daughter of John Cordle, a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1977.[1][2] They have five children:

  • Eliza Anne Venetia Pearson (born 31 May 1988), has a daughter (b.2014) with her partner Leif Christian Kvaal,[9]
  • Emily Jane Marina Pearson (born 13 December 1989),
  • Catrina Sophie Lavinia Pearson (born 13 March 1991),
  • Peregrine John Dickinson Pearson (born 27 October 1994)
  • Montague Orlando William Pearson (born 17 May 1997).[1]

Lord Cowdray lives at Cowdray Park in Midhurst, West Sussex.[4][10][11] In 2010, he was the second-richest person in Sussex and the 65th richest person in the UK, with an estimated wealth of £850 million.[10] As of May 2012, he was worth an estimated £500 million.[11] In September 2010, he put Cowdray Park up for sale for £25 million with the intention of downsizing, but did not find a buyer.[11]

Viscount Cowdray is also a supporter of the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party, having donated over £35,000 to the party since 2008.[12]

He is a Buddhist and has served on the Board of Trustees of the Tibet House Trust for twenty years.[2][7]

Filmography

As a producer

As an executive producer

Ancestry

Family of Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. George Pearson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Sarah Weetman Dickinson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Harold Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Sir John Cass
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Annie Cass
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Weetman Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Jane Francis Clinton Stewart
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Agnes Beryl Spencer-Churchill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. George Drought Warburton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Augusta Warburton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Elizabeth Augusta Bateman-Hanbury
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Selina Louisa Forester
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Lady Ida Frances Annabella Lumley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Frederica Drummond
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Lady Anne Pamela Bridgeman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Annabella Beadon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Margaret Cecilia Bruce
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Hamilton Beckett
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Constance Beckett
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Sophia Clarence Copley
 
 
 
 
 
 


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Karen Kranenburg, Renaissance Man, Polo & More, 2011
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Edwin Shrake, On A Dicey Cruise, Sports Illustrated, 16 September 1974
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Robert Hardman, As Lord Cowdray holds an exceedingly grand car boot sale... Why I'm swapping my £25m house for a cottage, The Daily Mail, 18 July 2011
  5. ↑ Cupid Production
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 imdb
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Meet the Cowdrays, Tatler, 28 January 2015
  8. ↑ Charles Kidd, David Williamson, Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1985, p. 287
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Tim Ridgway, Richest people in Sussex revealed, The Argus, 26 April 2010
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The rise and fall in fortunes of Sussex's filthy rich, The Argus, 1 May 2012
  12. ↑ http://www.channel4.com/news/the-publishers-and-lords-bankrolling-ukip-factcheck
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Viscount Cowdray
1995-Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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