Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet (''c.'' 1635 – 18 December 1712) was an English Whig politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

from 1679 to 1681 and from 1689 to 1702.History of Parliament Online: Sir Robert II Cotton, First Baronet, of Combermere, Cheshire (c.1635-1712)
published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983; accessed October 2017. He was the eldest surviving son of Thomas Cotton of Combermere Abbey,

, and his wife Elizabeth Calveley, daughter of Sir George Calveley of Lea (aka Calverley). His ancestor Sir George Cotton was granted Combermere by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

in about 1541. In 1677 he was made

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Combermere in the

County Palatine of Chester A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. After he was accused of treasonable correspondence with the Electress of Hanover, Sophia, in 1685 he was committed to the Tower of London by the Earl of Sunderland,

Secretary of State for the Southern Department The secretary of state for the Southern Department was a position in the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department (Great Britain), Southern Department became the H ...

. He was eventually cleared of the charges in part by the testimony of some of his political opponents. In politics he was a staunch Whig and opponent of James II. He welcomed the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

but did not play a leading role in politics thereafter. Historians consider his voting pattern to be proto- "Country", which irked some of the less independent Whigs of his era. He was considered a principled and honest man.History of Parliament Online: Sir Robert Cotton, First Baronet, of Combermere, Cheshire (c.1635-1712)
published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690–1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002; accessed October 2017. In 1684 he married Hester Salusbury, daughter and sole heir of the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

politician and soldier Sir Thomas Salusbury and his wife Hester Tyrrell. As a result, the family's seat at Combermere Abbey was enhanced with the Llewenni Estate in Denbighshire, northeast Wales. The couple had the following known issue, (out of a possible sixteen children in all): *Hugh-Calveley Cotton, who married Mary, only daughter and heiress of Sir William Russell, 1st Baronet of Langherne and his wife Hester Rouse. :Hugh-Calveley died before his father and left an only daughter, Catherine, who married Thomas Lewis, Esq. of St Pierre, Monmouthshire. * Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet, of Combermere *Mary Cotton, who married Sir William Fowler, of Harnage Grange.Epitaph in Cound Church to Sir William Fowler *Anne Cotton, who married Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Baronet; she was the grandmother of the 1st Earl of Bective *Arabella Cotton, who married Henry Tichborne, 1st Baron Ferrard and had issue.

Ancestry

References

;Bibliography *
ThePeerage.com
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Sir Robert 1st Baronet of Combermere 1630s births 1712 deaths Cotton, Sir Robert, 1st Baronet English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702