John Cotton MP (1513 - 1593)

Born 1513 in Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 21 Apr 1593 at about age 80 in Landwade (now in Suffolk), Cambridgeshire, England

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Biography

Sir John Cotton (1513-1593) was a prominent landholder with estates in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex. He was a courtier in the reigns of Henry VIII and Mary I but fell out of favour on the accession of Elizabeth I. He is known to have attended at least one reception at court, in 1546, and may have also been sent on Privy Council business to Scotland. He benefitted from a high-ranking brother-in-law Sir John Huddleston.^[1]

Sir John Cotton of Landwade, Cambridgeshire was knighted 2 Oct 1553. He served in a variety of local offices in Cambridgeshire as well as being a Justice of the Peace and Sheriff, and served as a member for Cambridgeshire in two Parliaments under Queen Mary. After the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, he signed the Act of Uniformity as a Justice of the Peace in 1569. After his denunciation at the hands of the Bishop of Ely in 1564, and because of his religion, Sir John Cotton retired into obscurity to live comfortably on his estates.^[1][2]

Sir John Cotton married Isabel, daughter of Sir William Spencer of Althorpe.^[2]

Children of Sir John Cotton of Landward and Isabel Spencer

The following children are on record:^[1][3]

1. Sir John Cotton of Landward knt. (c.1543-1621); m. 1st Elizabeth Carryl, daughter of Thomas Carryl Esq. of Warnham, Sussex; 2nd Elizabeth Bradburne, daughter of Sir Humphrey Bradburne of Bradburne, Derbyshire; 3rd Anne Hoghton, daughter of Sir Richard Hoghton, of Hoghton Tower, Lancashire
2. Sir Robert Cotton, Lord of Wood Ditton; m. Elizabeth, dau. & heire of John Dormer vel Dadmer
3. Sir Edmund Cotton; m. Jane Tanfield
4. Allice Cotton; m. Sir Thomas Ryvett Kt. of Chippenham, Cambridgeshire
5. Ann Cotton; m. Sir Anthony Roper Esq. of Farningham, Kent
6. Sara Cotton
7. Jane Cotton; m. Edmund Tanfeild
8. Frances Cotton, m. Thomas Andrew Esq. of Charwelton, Northamptonshire
9. Five other sons and two other daughters died in infancy

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Cambridgeshire County Council Cotton; Sir; John (1513-1593); High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire (1549,1556); of Landwade
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Publications of the Catholic Record Society Volume XIII: Miscellanea 8; Published on Jan 1, 1913 Sir John Cotton of Landwade, Cambridgeshire
3. ↑ (Saint-George, Henry, Sir, ,), 1581-1644; Camden, William, 1551-1623; Clay, John William, 1838-1918; College of Arms (Great Britain). The visitation of Cambridge made in a℗ʻ (1575) Continued and enlarged with the vissitation of the county made by Henery St. George, Richmond herald, marshall and deputy to Willm. Camdem, Clarenceulx, in a℗ʻ 1619, with many other descents added therto. London, 1897. Archive .org, Page 22

• The Baronetage of England: Or The History of the English Baronets, and Such Baronets of Scotland, as are of English Families; with Genealogical Tables, and Engravings of Their Coats of Arms, volume 1, p 405 Cotton, of Landwade, Cambridgeshire