Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray

The Viscount Cowdray
Born (1944-06-17) 17 June 1944
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 landowner is West Sussex. He also is a share holder of the Great Great Grandfather's company; Pearson PLC.

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. His mother was Lady Anne Pamela Bridgeman (1913–2009)[1] daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford (1873–1957).[1] He grew up on the 16,500 acres family Estate in West Sussex.

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

Career


He was, following school, in the British Army for two years.

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, and Vanishing Point in 1970.

He was a director of Theo Fennell PLC.

In 1995 he took over the family estate, which is a 16,500-acre estate in West Sussex. Lord and Lady Cowdray are working hard to make it an economically viable estate through means of sustainable farming method. Recently they renovated the main house on the estate to become a venue for private hire and weddings. The estate, which employs 150 people also has many businesses, including a farm shop, cafe, golf, shooting grounds, fishing and therapy rooms for hire.

The estate is most famous for its fabulous polo grounds, hosting one of Britain's most prestigious polo events: the Cowdray Park Gold Cup.

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.[7]

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:

Lord Cowdray has served on the board of trustees of the Tibet House Trust for twenty years.[2][9] and donates to the school project The Drukpa Kargyu Trust. He is a patron of the local primary school, church, young farmers club and sports teams.

Filmography

As a producer

As an executive producer

Ancestry

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lundy, Darryl (18 February 2011). "Michael Orlando Weetman Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray". The Peerage.com. Retrieved June 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 Karen Kranenburg, Renaissance Man, Polo & More, 2011
  3. 1 2 Edwin Shrake, On A Dicey Cruise, Sports Illustrated, 16 September 1974
  4. 1 2 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. ↑ imdb
  7. ↑ Charles Kidd, David Williamson, Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1985, p. 287
  8. ↑ "Anokhi Jaya-Kvaal". Peerage News.
  9. ↑ Meet the Cowdrays, Tatler, 28 January 2015
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Weetman Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray		 Viscount Cowdray
1995-Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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