Sir William Cockburn, 11th Baronet of Langton, Dean of York

Wikipedia Biographical Summary

"Sir William Cockburn, 11th Baronet (2 June 1773 - 30 April 1858, Kelston) was a Church of England clergyman. He was Dean of York (1823–1858) and was famously defended on a charge of simony by his nephew Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet in 1841.

Cockburn was the third son of Sir James Cockburn, 8th Baronet and his second wife Augusta Anne Ayscough. His maternal grandfather was Francis Ayscough, Dean of Bristol. In 1853 Cockburn was made a baronet after the death of his brother, George.

In 1805, he married Elizabeth Peel (died 1826), sister of Sir Robert Peel. She gave birth to three sons. Robert, the second son, died in 1825, a year before his mother, Elizabeth, died. George, the third son, died in 1830 and James, the eldest, died in 1846 at the age of 38. In 1830 Cockburn married Margaret Pearce, the daughter of a Colonel Pearce, but they had no children.

Cockburn was educated at Charterhouse School and St John's College, Cambridge, graduating as twelfth wrangler in 1795 and receiving his MA in 1798 and DD in 1823. A fellow of St John's from 1796 to 1806, he was the first Christian Advocate of Cambridge University from 1803 to 1810. He was also a vocal scriptural geologist.

William Cockburn was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1800 and as priest the following year. In 1822 he became the Dean of York, the chief place of authority and dignity in the Cathedral and a position he held until his death in 1858. From 1832 onwards he was also rector of Kelston, Somerset, near Bristol, where he generally spent half the year.

At age 84, Cockburn died in Kelston on 30 April 1858, after more than a year of growing infirmities."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Sir William Cockburn, 11th Baronet', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 November 2012, 09:58 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sir_William_Cockburn,_11t...> [accessed 8 December 2012]

Other References

• Complete baronetage; Cokayne, George E. (George Edward); 1900; Vol. II; page 329-330
• The House of Cockburn of that Ilk, and their cadets by Thomas H. Cockburn-Hood (Edinburgh 1888) pages 108-109