William James Richmond Cotton Vanity Fair 5 September 1885

Sir William James Richmond Cotton (13 November 1822 – 4 June 1902) was an English merchant and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1874 to 1885.

Life

Cotton was born at

Stratford, London Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Chari ...

, the son of William Cotton and his wife Caroline Richmond. He became a London merchant and owned iron mines in Norway as well as the Sun and Topping wharves at London Bridge. He was a commissioner of the Inland Revenue and a director of the Liverpool and London Globe Fire and Life Assurance Co. He was a J.P. for Middlesex, Hertfordshire and the City of London. Cotton was a member of the Haberdashers Company, the

Saddlers Company The Worshipful Company of Saddlers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. A Guild of Saddlers, the Company's predecessor, is thought to have been an Anglo-Saxon Craft Guild – it certainly existed at some point in the eleventh ...

the Turners Company and the Fan Makers Company, and filled the mastership of the three first-named. He was a trustee of St Andrew Undershaft, chairman of the Mary Datchelor Girls' School governors, a governor of

Queen Anne's Bounty Queen Anne's Bounty was a scheme established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England, and by extension the organisation ("The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the ...

, a governor of the Royal Hospitals, a member of the committee of Aske's Charity and president of the City of London Rifle Corps.Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref> Cotton was elected an alderman for the city (Lime street Ward) in 1866, and served as such until 1892. He was

Sheriff of London and Middlesex Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

from 1868 to 1869, and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

from 1875 to 1876, during which years he opened the new poultry and provisions market at Smithfield and presided over a grand banquet welcoming the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

on his return from a tour of India. In 1868 he had stood for parliament unsuccessfully at

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. At the 1874 general election he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

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. He lost his seat in parliament in the 1885 UK general election after representation was reduced from four to two under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, and bitter at this result never attempted to re-enter. Cotton was a member of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

for nine years and became its chairman, and was also chairman of the Police Committee for seventeen years. He became

Chamberlain of the City of London The Chamberlain of the City of London is an ancient office of the City of London, dating back to at least 1237. The Chamberlain is the finance director of the City of London Corporation. They are the financial adviser, accountant, receiver and pa ...

in 1892,New York Times 6 June 1902
/ref> and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in July 1892. He published a volume of poems called ''Imagination''. Cotton died at his residence in London on 4 June 1902, at the age of 79. He is buried in the churchyard of

St Mary the Virgin, East Barnet St Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church for East Barnet within the Diocese of St Albans. It is located on Church Hill. History Early history The church was originally constructed in 1080, as a small chapel on the hill. ...

, near London.

Family

Cotton married, in October 1846, Caroline Richmond Pottinger. Lady Cotton died on 18 March 1901. They had 12 children, of whom seven survived their parents.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, William James Richmond 1822 births 1902 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Sheriffs of the City of London 19th-century lord mayors of London 19th-century English politicians Knights Bachelor Members of the London School Board Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom for the City of London