Born on 18 April 1882 at King's Lynn, Norfolk, and baptised there, he was educated at Rugby, 1896-1900, and at Oxford, Christ Church, 1901-1905. From 1906 until 1918 he was M.P. for the Eye Division of Suffolk, and in 1910 became a Director of S. Pearson & Son.
He served as a Major in the Sussex Yeomanry in the Great War, 1914-1918. Two of his brothers also served in this war, Bernard Clive and Francis Geoffrey, the latter to be killed in action on 6 September 1914. In 1927 after his father died, he became 2nd Viscount Cowdray.
He was a notable polo player and in 1925 became Chairman of the Hurlingham Club Polo Committee. He was also joint Master of the Cowdray Foxhounds for some thirty years. Like his father, he was a proprietor of the "Westminster Gazette" and was also a trustee of the "News Chronicle" and Chairman of the Westminster Press Ltd.
He died on 5 October 1933 at Mount Street, London. In his obituary of 6 October 1933, Mr. Ramsay Muir described him as follows: "He was a modest man, who was not, perhaps, very widely known. But he was a man of inflexible principle, unwavering loyalty, great generosity, and
real devotion to the causes in which he believed. He was an extremely enlightened, generous, and progressive landlord, setting an example to his fellows. He was deeply concerned to build up a Press that would supply sound knowledge and just and well-informed guidance to its readers. But he was not at all concerned to receive fame or credit for the work he did; the work was what he cared about".
 

Source: Leo van de Pas