Charles Somers Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (14 July 1819-26 September 1883), styled the Hon. Charles Cocks from 1819 to 1841 and Viscount Eastnor from 1841 to 1852, was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 nad then Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician.

Somers was the son of John Somers-Cocks, 2nd Earl Somers

John Somers-Cocks, 2nd Earl Somers

John Somers Somers-Cocks, 2nd Earl Somers , styled Viscount Eastnor between 1821 and 1841, was a British peer and politician....

, and his wife Lady Caroline Harriet, daughter of Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke

Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke

Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke KG, PC, FRS , known as Philip Yorke until 1790, was a British politician.-Background and education:...

. As a Conservative, he was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Reigate

Reigate (UK Parliament constituency)

Reigate is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 at a by-election in February 1841 (succeeding his father), a seat he held until 1847. In 1852 he succeeded his father in the earldom and took his seat in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. He served as a Lord-in-Waiting

Lord-in-Waiting

Most Lords in Waiting are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As members of the Royal Household their duties are nominal, though they are occasionally required to meet visiting political and state leaders on visits...

 (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1853 to 1855 in Lord Aberdeen's

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...

 coalition government

Coalition Government 1852-1855

After the collapse of Lord Derby's minority government, the Whigs and Peelites formed a coalition under the Peelite leader Lord Aberdeen. The government resigned in early 1855 after a large parliamentary majority voted for a select committee to enquire into the incompetent management of the Crimean...

 and from 1855 to 1857 in the Liberal administration of Lord Palmerston

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...

.

Lord Somers married Virginia, daughter of James Pattle, in 1850; she was the sister of Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary themes....

 (nee Pattle), a well-known Victorian era photographer. Lord Somers and Virginia had three daughters, of whom one, Lady Virginia, died from diphtheria

Diphtheria

Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...

 at an early age. The eldest daughter, Lady Adeline Marie, married George Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford

George Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford

George William Francis Sackville Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford DL was the son of Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford....

, while the other daughter, Lady Isabella Caroline, married Lord Henry Somerset

Lord Henry Somerset

Lord Henry Richard Charles Somerset PC, DL, JP was a British Conservative politician. He served as Comptroller of the Household under Benjamin Disraeli between 1874 and 1879.-Background:...

. Lord Somers died in September 1883, aged 64, when the earldom and viscountcy of Eastnor became extinct. He was succeeded in his junior title of Baron Somers by his first cousin once removed, Philip Reginald Cocks. The Countess Somers died in 1910.