View source for Digby Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham

'''John Digby Thomas Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham''' (14 June 1907 – 12 May 1968) was an English peer, [[baronet]], business man, and breeder of [[Thoroughbred]] horses.  He was a member of the [[House of Lords]] from 1943 until his death in 1968.
The third son of [[Earl of Cottenham|Kenelm Pepys, 4th Earl of Cottenham]],<ref name=CP/> he was educated at [[Eton College]] and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], from where he was commissioned as a Lieutenant into the [[10th Royal Hussars]].<ref name=CP/>
In 1933, Digby Pepys became managing director of Peter Merchant Ltd, an industrial catering company,<ref>Alexander Howard, Ernest Newman, ''British Enterprise'' (Lincolns-Prager, 1952), p. 202</ref> and in 1946 also of Lockhart Group Ltd. He retired as managing director of both in 1952<ref name=CP/> but was also chairman of Lockhart Group from 1946 to 1960.<ref name=who>"COTTENHAM, 7th Earl of, cr. 1850; John Digby Thomas Pepys; Bt." in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]'' (A. & C. Black, 1968), p. 668</ref>
In 1943, he succeeded an older brother,  [[Mark Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham|Mark Pepys]], as [[Earl of Cottenham]], Viscount Crowhurst, of [[Crowhurst, Surrey]], Baron Cottenham, of [[Cottenham]], Cambridgeshire, and as a [[Baronet]], of [[Wimpole Street]].<ref name=CP>Peter W. Hammond, ed., ''[[The Complete Peerage]]'', Vol. XIV (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1998), pp. 28, 210</ref><ref name=BP>''[[Burke's Peerage]]'', Vol. 1 (2003), p. 911</ref>
Cottenham was a distant cousin of the diarist [[Samuel Pepys]] and was head of the Pepys family.<ref name=CP/> When canvassed in 1961 on how to pronounce the surname, his secretary told the press "I can assure you that Lord Cottenham pronounces it Peppiss."<ref>''The Publishers Weekly'', Vol. 180 (1961)</ref>
Cottenham was later a director of [[Lingfield Park Racecourse]] and of Trust Houses Ltd between 1962 and his death.<ref name=CP/> A successful bloodstock breeder, he was a member of the Committee of [[Tattersalls]] from 1957 to 1962 and was senior steward of the National Hunt Committee in 1964. He died in 1968, aged 60, and was then of Hungerhill House, [[Coolham]], near [[Horsham]] in [[West Sussex]].<ref>"7th Earl of Cottenham"(obituary) in ''The Bloodstock Breeders' Annual Review'', Vol. 57 (1968), p. 162</ref>
On 3 October 1933, Cottenham married Lady Angela Isabel Nellie Nevill, a daughter of [[Guy Larnach-Nevill, 4th Marquess of Abergavenny]] and a sister of [[Lord Rupert Nevill]]. They had three daughters and a son:<ref name=CP/><ref name=BP/>
*Lady Marye Isabel Pepys (1934–1958), who married [[Luke White, 5th Baron Annaly]], and was the mother of [[Luke White, 6th Baron Annaly]]
*Lady Davina Rose Pepys (1940–1973), who married [[Kleinwort baronets|Sir Kenneth Drake Kleinwort, 3rd Baronet]] and was the mother of Sir Richard Drake Kleinwort (born 1960)
*Lady Gillian Angela Pepys (1941–2008), who married [[Baron McGowan|Harry McGowan, 3rd Baron McGowan]], and was the mother of Harry McGowan, 4th Baron McGowan
*[[Charles Pepys, 8th Earl of Cottenham|Kenelm Charles Everard Digby Pepys, Viscount Crowhurst]] (1948–2000)
On his death, Cottenham was succeeded by his son.<ref name=CP/><ref name=BP/>
==References==
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==External links==
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Earl of Cottenham]]|years=1943–1968}}
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{{s-ttl |title=[[Baron Cottenham]] |years=1943–1968}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Earl of Cottenham|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Brook Street)''' | years= 1943–1968}}
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{{s-bef|before= [[Mark Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham|Mark Pepys]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Earl of Cottenham|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Wimpole Street)''' | years= 1943–1968}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Pepys, 8th Earl of Cottenham|Charles Pepys]]}}
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*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-pepys | the Earl of Cottenham }}
*[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw273207/John-Digby-Thomas-Pepys-7th-Earl-of-Cottenham-Angela-Isabel-Nellie-Pepys-ne-Nevill-Countess-of-Cottenham John Digby Thomas Pepys, 7th Earl of Cottenham], [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]
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[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:10th Royal Hussars officers]]
[[Category:Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:People from West Sussex]]
[[Category:Pepys family]]
[[Category:20th-century British Army personnel]]