EARL COWLEY'S WILL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 191, 8 May 1919, Page 7

EARL COWLEY'S WILL

ACTOR BECOMES AN EARL. By the death of tho somewhat notorious Earl Cowley an .actor becomes n peer of the realm. Lord Cowley, who liad been ill for some two months, died at .his Wiltshire seat, DKiyeofc House, Chippenham, He had in Jiis 52 years' career a very varied experience of life and of tho law courts. The points, indeed, may be thus summarised-.—1336, breach' of promise, =010,000 damages; 1897, divorced by Ids wife; 1902, co-respondent, suit dismissed; 1905, co-respondent, decree nisi; 1913. divorced by his second wife; 1913, co-respondent, decree nisi, Tho breach of promise shit was brought against mm by Miss Phyllis Broughton, the Gaiety actress, before he succeeded to tho title. In the divorce suit of 1902, ho was cited as a co-respondent in tho petition brought by Sir Charles Hartopp against his wife, tho daughter of Mr. C. H.. Wilson. The case lasted thirteen days, and the.jury found the earl not. guilty. In 1005 Sir Charles Hartopp presented a second divorce petition, with Lord Cowley as corespondent. The suit was undefended, and in December, 1905. he and Lady Hartopp were married at Colombo. In August, 1907, tho .new Countess Cowley gavo birth to a-son. The earl was again co-respplident in a divorce suit in 1913, in the'undefended petition of Mr. Geoffrey Charles Buxton, of Beverley,. Yorkshire. On January 22, 1914, the earl married Mrs. Buxton at the British' Consulate, Biarritz. Tho ceremony took place oh the earliest possible date after the decree obtained by Millicent Countess Cowley (Lady Hartopp) had been made absolute. "

•The new earl is Viscount Dangan, born on Christmas Day, 1890. He entered the sth Lancers, but resigned, and was later a scene painter at the Quinlan Operatic Studio at Hendon in 1911. Ho was then earning ,£2 a week. He said he was put into the army against his will, and lie resigned to tako up a stage life. , Between the army and 'the scene painters he stage managed a music-hall troupe. In 1914 he married Miss -May Picard, aii American actress, at New York, who .was engaged .with "The Girl on tho .Film." Company. After a three weeks' honeymoon, lord Dangan and his bride arranged a music-hall tour of the United States. Both appeared in a vaudevillo sketch entitled "High Life," the viscountess's three sisters also taking part. In 1916 he was before the Official Receiver for examination, and then stated that his earnings as an actor averaged about d£7 a week. His more recent experiences, in the theatrical world consist of playing the part of a "nut" in "You .Never Know, Y'lCnow," at the Criterion Theatre, for the last six months under the name of Arthur Welleslcy. The new earl is 'a striking figure of a man, standing six feet three inches. He lip/? a 6on and heir, born May, 1915. The late Lord Cowley served in South Africa with the Imperial Yeomanry in 1900.' He owned about 4000 acres, and was patron of seven livings. His grandfather." tho first earl, nephew of the Duke of Wellington, was British Minister Plenipotentiary to the Germanic Confederation, 1851-52, and Ambassador Extraordinary to France, 18521867. He was created an earl of the United Kingdom in 1557.