Lt-Col Sir Richard Charles Geers Cotterell, 5th Baronet JP TD

KStJ The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1 June 1907 – 5 December 1978), a British soldier.

Early life

Cotterell was born on 1 June 1907. He was the only son of Sir John Cotterell, 4th Baronet and Lady Evelyn Amy Gordon-Lennox. His three older sisters were Sylvia Evelyn Cotterell (wife of Capt. Christopher Digby Leyland and she married Roland Norris Fawcett), Cicely Violet Cotterell (wife of Capt. William Adrian Vincent Bethell and Roden Powlett Graves Orde), and Mildred Katharine Cotterell (wife of Lt.-Col. Sir Terence Falkiner, 8th Baronet).Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, pages 916, 1277. His paternal grandparents were

Sir Geers Cotterell, 3rd Baronet Sir Geers Henry Cotterell, 3rd Baronet (22 August 1834 – 17 March 1900) was a Whig politician. Early life Cotterell was the second son of Sir John Henry Cotterell (who had died before his birth and was heir apparent to Sir John Cotterell, 1 ...

(MP for

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

) and Hon. Katherine Margaret Airey (a daughter of Richard Airey, 1st Baron Airey). His mother was the eldest daughter of

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Gordon (27 December 1845 – 18 January 1928), styled Lord Settrington until 1860 and Earl of March between 1860 and 1903, was a British politician and peer. Early life Styled Lord ...

and, his first wife, the former Amy Mary Ricardo. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

before attending

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Career

On 13 November 1937, he succeeded as the 5th Baronet Cotterell, of Garnons, Herefordshire following the death of his father. He served as a Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire in 1938. He served as

Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

between 1945 and 1957. He also served as a

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

er between 1945 and 1964.

Military career

He fought in the Middle East and Italy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, was mentioned in despatches and was awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

. He was commanding officer of the 76th (Shropshire Yeomanry) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery between 1943 and 1945, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was appointed a Knight of

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (religious society), military order. It was founded in the Crusader states, crusader K ...

and Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1965.

Personal life

On 16 June 1930, Cotterell married Lady Lettice Lygon at

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...

. She was a daughter of

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (20 February 1872 – 14 November 1938), styled Viscount Elmley until 1891, was a British Liberal politician. He was Governor of New South Wales between 1899 and 1901, a member of the Liberal administrations of ...

and Lady Lettice Mary Elizabeth Grosvenor (a daughter of Victor Alexander Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor). Before their divorce in 1958, they were the parents of: * Rose Evelyn Cotterell (1932–2006), who married

Charles Hambro, Baron Hambro Charles Hambro, Baron Hambro (24 July 1930 – 7 November 2002) was a British merchant banker and political fundraiser. He was the Chairman of Hambros Bank from 1972 until its merger with Société Générale in 1998. He was the senior honor ...

, heir to the

Hambros Bank Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years. The bank ...

fortune. * Anne Lettice Cotterell (b. 1933), who married

Charles St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair Major Charles Murray Kennedy St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair, CVO, DL (21 June 1914 – 1 April 2004) was a Scottish peer who spent his entire life in the service of the Crown; as a soldier, an officer of arms, an equerry in the Queen Mother's ...

, in 1968. * Sir John Henry Geers Cotterell, 6th Baronet (1935–2017), who married Alexandra Bridgewater in 1959. * Thomas Richard Geers Cotterell (1939–2019) On 21 July 1958, he married Molly Seely, Baroness Sherwood ( Hon. Molly Patricia Berry), at the

Caxton Hall Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily noted for its historical associations. It hosted many mainstream and fringe political and a ...

Register Office A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

in London. She was daughter of

William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, DL (23 June 1879 – 15 June 1954) was a British peer and newspaper publisher. Life and career Berry was born in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, the second of three sons of Mary Ann (Rowe) and John Mathias Be ...

, who owned ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' newspaper, and Mary Agnes Corns (a daughter of Thomas Corns). Molly was widow of Roger Charles George Chetwode (a son of

Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode Field Marshal Philip Walhouse Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode, (21 September 1869 – 6 July 1950), was a senior British Army officer. He saw action during the Second Boer War, during which he was present at the Siege of Ladysmith in December 189 ...

), with whom she had two children, including Philip Chetwode, 2nd Baron Chetwode. After the death of her first husband she married

Hugh Seely, 1st Baron Sherwood Hugh Michael Seely, 1st Baron Sherwood (2 October 1898 – 1 April 1970), known as Sir Hugh Seely, 3rd Baronet, of Sherwood Lodge, Nottinghamshire, from 1926 to 1941, was a British Liberal politician. Early life Seely was born on 2 October 18 ...

(a son of

Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet Sir Charles Hilton Seely, 2nd Baronet, VD, KGStJ (7 July 1859 – 26 February 1926), was a British industrialist, landowner and Liberal Unionist (later Liberal Party) politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1895 to 19 ...

), whom she divorced in 1948. Cotterell died on 5 December 1978 at home at Garnons, Herefordshire. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. His memorial was held at

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

and officiated by Norman Rathbone, the

Dean of Hereford The Dean of Hereford is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Hereford Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Blessed Virgin Mary and St Et ...

, who was assisted by Canon Allan Shaw.

Portrait

In 1931, Sir John and his wife Lady Lettice had their portraits painted by

Philip de László Philip Alexius László de Lombos (born Fülöp Laub; ; 30 April 1869 – 22 November 1937), known professionally as Philip de László, was an Anglo-Hungarian painter known particularly for his portraits of royal and aristocratic personages. ...

. In his portrait, he is pictured "Half-length slightly to the left, full face to the viewer, wearing the ceremonial uniform of the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, also known as the Blues, or abbreviated as RHG, was one of the cavalry regiments of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry. In 1969, it was amalgamated with the 1st The Royal Dragoons to form the ...

, holding his red-plumed helmet in his right hand". László had previously done a number of portraits for his family, including of his mother in 1913, sister Sylvia in 1924, and later, his father in 1934.

References

External links

Portrait of Sir Richard Cotterell, 5th Baronet
1931, by

.
Portrait of Lady Lettice Cotterell
1931, by Philip de László. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotterell, John 1907 births 1978 deaths People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Lord-lieutenants of Herefordshire