Michael Orlando Weetman Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray, DL (born 17 June 1944)[1] of Cowdray Park in West Sussex, is a landowner in West Sussex with 16,500 acres (6,700 ha) and is a major shareholder of the FTSE 100 company Pearson plc, the construction, now publishing, company founded by his ancestor in the 19th century.
The Viscount Cowdray | |
|---|---|
 Arms | |
| Born | 17 June 1944 |
| Spouse(s) | Ellen Erhardt Marina Rose Cordle |
| Heir | Peregrine Pearson |
| Parents | Weetman Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray Lady Anne Pamela Bridgeman |
Early life
editHe is the eldest son and heir of Weetman Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray (1910–1995)[2][3] of Cowdray Park, Sussex and of Dunecht House, Aberdeenshire, by his first wife Lady Anne Pamela Bridgeman (1914-2009), a daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford (1873–1957) and a first cousin of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.[4] His parents separated when he was two years old.[5]
Career
editHe attended Gordonstoun, a boarding school in Elgin, Moray, Scotland, after which he served the British Army for two years, worked as a financier in the City of London and briefly as a farmer.[citation needed] In the late 1960s he became a film producer, running Cupid Productions, a film production company.[3][6] He produced Sympathy for the Devil, a film starring The Rolling Stones and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and Vanishing Point in 1971. In 1985, he was listed in Debrett's Peerage as a resident of Le Schuylkill, a high-rise building in Monaco.[7] Later in the 1980s he returned to England. He was a director of the jewellers Theo Fennell Plc. He has served on the board of trustees of the Tibet House Trust for 20 years.[2][8]
Cowdray Park estate
editIn 1995 he inherited his 16,500-acre (6,700 ha) paternal estate at Cowdray Park, in West Sussex, purchased by his great-grandfather in 1909, now containing the mansion house known as Cowdray Park, a polo club, a golf club, a dairy herd, forestry, 330 houses, several farms and much of the town of Midhurst.[citation needed] In and in 2011, he put the 16 bedroom mansion house up for sale via agents Knight Frank, at an asking price of £25 million, including two lakes, two swimming pools, six cottages, 12 flats, a bowling alley, cricket pitch, polo field,[9] but with only 110 acres (45 ha) of the estate. In 2017 having failed to find a buyer for the house, he took it off the market and drew up plans to convert the two wings into 7 short-leasehold luxury apartments with the reception areas to be hired out for conferences, corporate events and weddings.[5]
Personal life and family
editBy his girlfriend Barbara Ray, he had a son out of wedlock:
- Sebastian William Orlando Pearson (born 1970)[4]
In 1977, he married Ellen Erhardt, a daughter of Hermann Erhardt, of Munich.[4] They divorced in 1984.
In 1987, he married Marina Rose Cordle, second daughter of John Cordle, a Conservative Member of Parliament,[2] by whom he has five children:
- Hon. Eliza Anne Venetia Pearson (born 31 May 1988)
- Hon. Emily Jane Marina Pearson (born 13 December 1989)[10]
- Hon. Catrina Sophie Lavinia Pearson (born 13 March 1991)
- Hon. Peregrine John Dickinson Pearson (born 27 October 1994), eldest legitimate son and heir;
- Hon. Montague Orlando William Pearson (born 17 May 1997).
Filmography
editAs a producer
edit- Last of the Long-haired Boys (1968)
- Sympathy for the Devil (1968)
- The Legend of Spider Forest – AKA Venom (1971)
As an executive producer
edit- Vanishing Point (1971)
References
edit- ^ Who's Really Who - Compton Miller, Harden's Books, 1997)
- ^ a b c Karen Kranenburg, Renaissance Man Archived 5 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Polo & More, 2011
- ^ a b Edwin Shrake, On A Dicey Cruise, Sports Illustrated, 16 September 1974
- ^ a b c Kidd, Charles, Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2015 Edition, London, 2015, p.P293
- ^ a b Dennys, Harriet (19 January 2014). "Viscount Cowdray to convert ancestral home into luxury flats". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ Cupid Production Archived 26 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Charles Kidd, David Williamson. Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1985, p. 287.
- ^ Meet the Cowdrays, Tatler, 28 January 2015
- ^ "Meet the Cowdrays: The family at the heart of British polo". tatler.com. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Soames, Matilda. "10 PERFECT POTENTIAL BRIDES FOR PRINCE HARRY!". Tatler.