George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper

George Augustus Frederick Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper, was born on 26 June 1806. He held the courtesy title Viscount Fordwich until 1837, when he succeeded to the earldom. Cowper died on 15 April 1856.

He was the eldest son of Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, and Emily Lamb. His maternal grandfather was Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne, and his maternal aunt was Elizabeth Lamb, wife of Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. His younger brother was William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple. Following her husband's death, Cowper's mother married Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, in 1839.

In his military career, Cowper was commissioned as a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards on 28 April 1827. He purchased a lieutenancy in the same regiment on 27 February 1830. He retired on the half-pay of the New South Wales Veteran Companies in March 1831, but later exchanged into a lieutenancy in the 31st Regiment of Foot on 13 February 1835 and retired from the Regular Army on 6 March 1835. Additionally, he held a command in the South Hertfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry, a part-time force, from 1833 to April 1832, with the rank of captain.

Cowper's political career included being elected to the House of Commons representing Canterbury in the 1830 general election. He served briefly as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under his uncle, Lord Melbourne, from November to December 1834. He lost his parliamentary seat in the 1835 general election. In 1837, he succeeded his father as the Earl Cowper. From 1846 to 1856, he served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent.

In 1833, Cowper married Lady Anne Florence de Grey, daughter of Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey. She later succeeded as the sixth Baroness Lucas of Crudwell. They had six children: two sons and four daughters. Their children were Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, who became the 7th Earl Cowper; The Honourable Henry Frederick Cowper; Lady Henrietta Emily Mary Cowper; Lady Florence Amabel Cowper; Lady Adine Eliza Anne Cowper; and Lady Amabel Frederica Henrietta Cowper.

Cowper died in April 1856 at the age of 49. His eldest son, Francis, succeeded him in the earldom. Lady Cowper, his widow, died in 1880.