Cropley Ashley-Cooper, 6th Earl of Shaftesbury (1768-1851)

Cropley Ashley-Cooper, 6th Earl of Shaftesbury (21 December 1768-2 June 1851), styled The Honourable Cropley Ashley-Cooper until 1811, was a British politician. He was the father of the social reformer Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury.

Background
Shaftesbury was a younger son of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, by his second wife the Hon. Mary, daughter of Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone.

Political career
Shaftesbury was elected Member of Parliament for Dorchester in 1790, a seat he held until 1811. The latter year he succeeded his elder brother in the earldom and entered the House of Lords, in which he served as Chairman of Committees.

Family
Lord Shaftesbury married Lady Anne, daughter of George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough, in 1796. Their daughter Lady Harriet Anne married Henry Lowry-Corry and was the mother of Montagu Corry, 1st Baron Rowton. Lord Shaftesbury died in June 1851, aged 82, and was succeeded in the earldom by his son, Anthony, the noted social reformer. Lady Shaftesbury died in August 1865, aged 91.