Harry Evan Auguste Cotton (24 May 1868 – 7 March 1939), better known as Evan Cotton or H. E. A. Cotton, was a Liberal politician,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, administrator, journalist, historian and writer.Ray, Nisith Ranjan Ray, Editor's Note in the book ''Calcutta Old and New'', 1909/1980, pp. 1–4, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

Formative years

The son of Henry Cotton, who presided over the 1904 session of the Indian National Congress, and the Irish-born Mary Ryan, he was born at

Midnapore Medinipur or Midnapore (Pron: med̪iːniːpur) is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as '' ...

, where his father was then posted. He had his early schooling at Mount Liban School, Pau and then at Sherborne School. He held an open scholarship at Jesus College, Oxford, where he obtained a second class in Classics Honour Mods, followed by second class degrees in history and jurisprudence. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

Professional life

Cotton practised at

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...

from 1893 to 1908. He served as a member of Calcutta Municipal Corporation. He covered the

Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was ...

of 1903 as a correspondent of the ''

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''. He subsequently served as the Kolkata correspondent of the '' Daily News''. He undertook the editorship of ''India'', the weekly organ of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. He served as President of the Bengal Legislative Council from 1922 to 1925. He was an active member of the Indian Historical Records Commission and was chairman from 1923 to 1925.

Politics

Evan returned to England in 1906 and joined the Liberal Party. His father was himself a Liberal MP who sat for

Nottingham East Nottingham East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Nadia Whittome of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament Constituency profile On average earners' incomes are slightly lower than the n ...

from 1906–1910. In January 1910, Evan contested the General Election at the Conservative seat of Dulwich; In March 1910 he was elected as a Progressive Councillor to the London County Council representing Finsbury East; The Progressives were the local government arm of the Liberal Party. In March 1913 he was re-elected to the LCC; In July 1918, when a vacancy occurred due to the death of a Liberal MP, for the parliamentary seat of Finsbury East. Cotton was an obvious candidate to defend the seat for the Liberal Party. Due to the wartime electoral truce, he did not face an official Unionist Party opponent and was comfortably elected; Following boundary changes, Evan's Finsbury East seat was merged with the Unionist seat of Finsbury Central to form a new Finsbury constituency. The Coalition Government chose to publicly endorse the Unionist candidate who was the sitting MP for the old Central seat. This endorsement made Evan's prospects difficult and after only 5 months as an MP he was defeated; In 1919 he did not defend his Finsbury East seat on the London County Council as after the election he was appointed as an Alderman.

Estimate of the person

In all his activities, his primary concern was for India, a country served by four generations in the family. He provided strong support to the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms and served on an advisory committee at the India Office in connection with the 1919 Act. He was pivot of a small group that supported reforms. However, the changing political environment dampened his spirits. He later became a severe critic of the constitutional changes that led to the Round Table Conference.Obituary in '' The Times'', 8 March 1939, p. 18

Marriage

In 1896, he married Nora, daughter of William H.Grimley of Bengal ICS. They had a daughter.

Works

''Calcutta: Old and New'', ''The Century in India 1800–1900'', ''Hartly House, Calcutta'', ''Murray’s Handbook of India, Burma and Ceylon'' (13th and 14th editions)

References

* ''Who's Who of British members of parliament, Volume II 1886–1918'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Harry Evan Auguste 1868 births 1939 deaths People educated at Sherborne School Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford British barristers Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian National Congress Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Kolkata UK MPs 1910–1918 Members of London County Council Progressive Party (London) politicians People from Paschim Medinipur district Nathaniel Cotton family