COTTON, RICHARD, brother of William Cotton (adm. 1733/4, qv); bapt. 29 Jul 1720; adm. (aged 13) Jan 1733/4; left 1736; of Leeds, Yorks.; m. 1 Oct 1781 (IGI) Harriot, dau. of Ingram Rider, Leeds; d. 1793.
COTTON, ROBERT SALUSBURY, elder surviving son of Thomas Cotton, St. Margaret, Westminster, apothecary, and Mary --- (IGI); bapt. St. Paul’s, Covent Garden 20 Jul 1715; adm. (aged 13) Jan 1728/9 (as Robert Cotton); practised as an apothecary in King Street and Crown Court, Westminster; a collector of coins and medals; FRS 24 Nov 1774; FSA 14 May 1779; m. 14 Feb 1743/4 Alison, dau. of James Robertson, Glasgow; d. Aug 1790.
COTTON, ROBERT SALUSBURY, eldest son of Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, Bart. (qv); b. 11 Sep 1768; adm. 17 Apr 1780; in school list Oct 1786; Trinity Hall, Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 5 Oct 1786; d. unm. 1799 (will proved PCC 4 Apr 1799).
COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE, BART., eldest son of Thomas Cotton MP, Conington, Hunts., and his first wife Elizabeth, dau. of Francis Shirley, Staunton Harold, Leics.; b. 22 Jan 1570/1; at school under Grant (GEC, Complete Baronetage, i, 45); Jesus Coll. Cambridge, matr. 22 Nov 1581; BA 1585/6; collected manuscripts and coins; settled in Cotton House, Old Palace Yard, Westminster, which became a resort for scholars and antiquaries; made antiquarian tour with his old schoolmaster William Camden, 1600; knighted 11 May 1603; a favourite at court in the early years of the reign of James I; MP Huntingdonshire 1604-11, Old Sarum 1624, Thetford 1625, Castle Rising 1628-9; created baronet 29 Jun 1611; contributed to Speed’s History of England, 1611, and to Camden’s History of Elizabeth 1615; imprisoned Oct 1615- Jun 1616 for trying to screen his patron, the Earl of Somerset, by altering dates of letters; became friendly with Sir John Eliot, and in 1625 openly attached himself to the parliamentary opposition to the Crown; author, History of Henry III, 1627, and The Dangers wherein the Kingdom now standeth and the Remedye, 1628; treated as an enemy by the court in 1628-9, and after proceedings in the Star Chamber was deprived of access to his library; this library, which was later to form the nucleus of the library of the British Museum (now British Library), was moved to Ashburnham House in 1730, suffering damage by fire there on 23 Oct 1731, and was then temporarily housed in the Old Dormitory; m. 1592 Elizabeth, dau. of William Brocas, Theddingworth, Leics.; d. 6 May 1631. DNB.
COTTON, SIR ROBERT SALUSBURY, BART. , eldest son of Sir Lynch Salusbury Cotton, Bart. , MP, and Elizabeth Abigail, younger sister of William Cotton (adm. 1733/4, qv); b. ; adm. (aged 9) Mar 1749/50 (as Robert Cotton) (Morel's); in school list 1754; Trinity Hall, Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 11 May 1756; succ. father as 5th baronet 14 Aug 1775; MP Cheshire 1 Mar 1780-96; Maj. , Cheshire Militia 15 Apr 1771; FRS 24 Nov 1774; m. 1767 Frances, dau. of Col. James Russell Stapleton, Bodrhyddan, Flintshire; d. 24 Aug 1809, aged 70.
COTTON, SIR ROBERT, BART. , only surviving son of Sir John Cotton, Bart. , and his second wife Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Thomas Honywood, Marks Hall, Essex; b. ; at school under Busby (W. W. R. Ball & J. A. Venn, eds. , Admissions to Trin. Coll. Camb. , ii, 560); Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 9 Oct 1686, aged 16, matr. 1686/7; adm. Middle Temple 10 Feb 1687/8; succ. nephew as 5th baronet, 5 Feb 1730/1; m. 1st, Elizabeth Wigston; m. 2nd, Sarah Morton, widow; d. 12 Jul 1749. DNB (s. v. Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, Bart. ).
COTTON, STAPLETON, 1ST VISCOUNT COMBERMERE, second son of Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, Bart. (qv); b. 14 Nov 1773; adm. 28 Jan 1785; at school four years; 2nd Lieut., 23rd Foot, 26 Feb 1790; 1st Lieut., 13 Apr 1791; Capt., 6th Dragoon Guards, 28 Feb 1793; Maj., 59th Foot, 1794; Lieut. -Col., 25th Light Dragoons, 9 Mar 1794; Brevet Col., 1 Jan 1800; Lieut. -Col., 16th Light Dragoons, 14 Feb 1800; served in Flanders 1793-4, at Cape Town 1795, in campaign against Tippoo Sahib 1799, and in Dublin during Emmett’s insurrection 1800; Brig. -Gen., 11 Feb 1804; Maj. -Gen., 30 Oct 1805; commanded allied cavalry during part of Peninsular War; wounded at Salamanca 1812; Lieut. -Gen., 1 Jan 1812; Col., 20th Light Dragoons, 27 Jan 1813 – Jan 1821 [check]; took part in Pyrenees Campaign, 1813-4; commanded allied cavalry in France, 1815-6; Governor of Barbados 1816-20; Col., 3rd Dragoons, 25 Jan 1821 – Sep 1828; Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, 1822-5; Gen., 27 May 1825; Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, 9 Feb 1825 - 1 Jan 1830; captured city of Bhurtpore, 28 Jan 1826; Col., 1st Life Guards, from 16 Sep 1829; Constable of the Tower (and Lord Lieut., Tower Hamlets) from 11 Oct 1852; Field-Marshal, 2 Oct 1855; MP Newark 1806 - 17 May 1814; succ. father as 6th baronet 24 Aug 1809; KB 21 Aug 1812; created Baron Combermere 17 May 1814, with annuity of £2000 p. a. for two generations; GCB 2 Jan 1815; GCH 1817; Governor of Sheerness 25 Jan 1821 – still 1829; Privy Councillor (I) 21 Nov 1822; created Viscount Combermere 8 Feb 1827; DCL Oxford Univ. 23 Jun 1830; Privy Councillor 16 Dec 1834; KCSI 19 Aug 1861; m. 1st, 1 Jan 1801 Lady Anne Maria Pelham-Clinton, eldest dau. of Thomas Pelham-Clinton, 3rd Duke of Newcastle, Major-Gen. in the Army; m. 2nd, 22 Jun 1814 Caroline, second dau. of Capt. William Fulke Greville RN; m. 3rd, 2 Oct 1838 Mary Woolley, dau. of Thomas Gibbings MD, Gibbings Grove, co. Cork; d. 21 Feb 1865. DNB.
COTTON, SIR ST. VINCENT, BART., elder son of Sir Charles Cotton, Bart. (qv); b. 6 Oct 1801; adm. 29 Mar 1815 (Packharness'); left 3 Dec 1817; succ. father as 6th baronet 23 Feb 1812; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 3 Feb 1820; Cornet, 10th Light Dragoons (Hussars), 13 May 1826; Lieut., 13 Dec 1827; retd. on half-pay 19 Nov 1830; DL JP Cambridgeshire; a well-known sportsman in the hunting, shooting, racing, gaming, and puglistic world; played cricket for the Gentlemen against the Players 1832, 1835; gambled away his estates, and for many years made a living by driving The Age stagecoach on the London and Brighton road; m. a few days before his death Hepzibah Dimmick; d. 25 Jan 1863. DNB.
COTTON, SIR SYDNEY JOHN, second son of Henry Calveley Cotton (d. 1837, qv); b. 2 Dec 1792; adm. Jan 1805 (Lusus Alteri Westmon., iii, 52); left 1805; Cornet, 22nd Light Dragoons, 19 Apr 1810; Lieut., 13 Feb 1812; Capt., 1 Jan 1820; half-pay 25 Jul 1820; 3rd Foot (The Buffs), 2 May 1822; Maj., 41st Foot, 18 Jan 1828; 28th Foot, 25 Mar 1836; Brevet Lieut. -Col., 23 Nov 1841; Lieut. -Col., 28th Foot, 8 Jan 1843; 22nd Foot, 2 Dec 1847; Brevet Col., 20 Jun 1854; Lieut. -Col., 10th Foot, 14 Dec 1858; Maj. -Gen., 26 Oct 1858; Col., 10th Foot, 5 Feb 1863; Lieut. -Gen., 20 Apr 1866; Governor of Chelsea Hospital, 10 May 1872; KCB 24 Mar 1858; GCB 24 May 1873; served at almost every station where European troops were located in the three Indian presidencies; commanding in Peshawar Valley as 1st class Brigadier at outbreak of Indian Mutiny, and did good service on North-West Frontier; author, Nine Years on the North-West Frontier from 1854 to 1863, 1868, and other works; m. 1820 Marianne, dau. of Capt. --- Hallack, 22nd Light Dragoons [not found in Army List : was surname Hackett ? : a contemporary of his in 22nd Light Dragoons was Lieut. William Hackett]; d. 20 Feb 1874. DNB.
COTTON, THOMAS; b.; adm. 31 May 1771; in school list 1771.