Sir Richard Cotton and Mary Mainwaring

Sir Richard Cotton was born about 1539 and was the son of Sir George Cotton and Mary Onley.

Sir Richard married first Mary Mainwaring 6 January 1559/60 in Combermere, Shropshire, England. Mary was the daughter of Sir Arthur Mainwaring and Margaret Mainwaring of Ightfield, Shropshire, England (marriage recorded in the register of Marbury, Cheshire, England). Sir Richard built the manor house at Combermere in 1563, incorporating what remained of the abbey that had been granted to his father during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.

Sir Richard married second Jane Seyliard (dau. of William and Joan (Todd) Seyliard) 14 June 1578 in St. Olave Jewry, London, Middlesex, England and third Philippa — (m. 1) John Dormer of Buckinghamshire, d. in the parish of St. Michael, Coventry, Warwickshire, England, will dated 30 May 1625 and probated 18 August 1631). Mrs. Philippa  Cotton asked her help for her and her children in a 1 November 1601 letter to Sir Robert Cecil (later the Earl of Shrewsbury), calling herself his "poor, yet very near kinswoman" and "her Majesty's sworn servant these 20 years."

Sir Richard lived for the last few years of his life at Stoke, Warwickshire, England. He died intestate 14 June 1602 in Stoke, "seised in fee of a capital mess. in Cumbermeyre & of a water mill, 1000 a. of land, 500 a. of meadow, 1000 a. of pasture, 200 a. of moor, 200 a. of wood & 200 a. of land covered with water in Combermeyre, Wrenbury & Aldelem," and "also seised in fee tail, to him & his male issue, of the manor of Wilkesley."

Sir Richard and Mary’s children are:

  1. Arthur Cotton, born about 1561, died unmarried before his father.
  2. Mary Cotton, born about 1563, married — Bulkeley (first name given as William, Richard, or Ralph in different sources, son of Rowland Bulckley of Woore, Shropshire, England).
  3. George Cotton, born about 1565, married Mary Bromley (dau. of Sir George Bromley of Halton, Shropshire, England (and Elizabeth Lacon, according to http://www.combermere-restoration.co.uk/1500s-to-present-day/) 20 April 1585 in Worfield, Shropshire, England, died in 1647.
  4. Elizabeth Cotton, married William or Richard Francis (of Ticknall, Derbyshire, England).
  5. Andrew Cotton, born about 1569, buried 6 Sep 1640 in Wrenbury, Cheshire, England, inventory 14 Sep 1640, probate 21 Oct 1640 in Chester, Cheshire, England, not married.
  6. Winifred Cotton, born about 1571, married Thomas Dering (of Liss, Hampshire, England).
  7. Frances Cotton, born about 1573, married George Abell (a gentleman of Stapenhill, Derbyshire and Hemington in the parish of Lockington, Leicester, England, b. abt. 1561 (probably in Stapenhill, Derbyshire, England) to Robert Abell, matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 8 Dec 1578, admitted to the Inner Temple in 1581,will dated 8 Sep 1630, proved 7 Feb 1630/1, bur. 13 Sep 1630 in Lockington, Leicester, England) 1 May 1594 (in extracted records, but 1599, according to Boyer) in Wrenbury, Cheshire, England.
  8. Dorothy Cotton, born about 1575, not married, probably the Dorothy Cotton, gentlewoman, buried 7 Apr 1647 in Wrenbury, Cheshire, England.

Sir Richard and Jane’s child is:

  1. Jane Cotton, born about 1580, living 20 Feb 1603/4, when she was mentioned in the will of her maternal grandmother Joan (Todd) Seyliard.

Sir Richard and Philippa’s children are:

  1. Philip Cotton, born about 1598, said to have been a Captain in the army of Charles I, said to have been killed in Scotland.
  2. Bridgett Cotton, born about 1600, executrix of her mother's will.


Sources: 

  1. Ancestry.com. Cheshire, England, Select Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
  2. Ancestry.com. England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
  3. Stewart-Brown, R. (ed.), Cheshire Inquisitions Post Mortem: Stuart Period, 1603-1660,Vol. I (A-D), The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1934, p. 146.
  4. Combermere Abbey site, http://www.combermere-restoration.co.uk/, visited 30 May 2017.
  5. London Metropolitan Archives, St Olave Jewry, Composite register: baptisms 1558 - 1660, marriages 1558/9 - 1653/4, burials 1558 - 1672, P69/OLA2/A/002/MS04400, Item 00. Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives.
  6. Ancestry.com. Cheshire, England, Select Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
  7. Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Marriages, 1538–1973. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
Records related to Sir Richard and Mary (Mainwaring) Cotton but not copied below due to copyright considerations:
  1. Boyer, Carl, Medieval English Ancestors of Robert Abell, Santa Clarita, CA: C. Boyer, 2001.


Portraits and Other Images

Portraits from Combermere Abbey site (http://www.combermere-restoration.co.uk/1500s-to-present-day/):

Sir Richard Cotton
Description: "Richard Cotton; the portrait inset into the fire surround in The Library"

Probable portrait of George Cotton
Description: "The fourth of the oil-on-wood portraits set into the fire surround in The Library; almost certainly George Cotton."

Portraits inset around the fireplace of the Combermere library
The portraits inset into the fireplace surround in the library at Combermere (George Cotton?, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, and Sir Richard Cotton)


Combermere Abbey (photo credit: Espresso Addict - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23482131)):
Combermere Abbey

1727 engraving of Combermere:
1727 engraving of Combermere Abbey


Cotton Arms:
Arms of the Cotton family


Church Records

Name:    George Abell
Gender:    Male
Marriage Date:    1 May 1594
Marriage Place:    Wrenbury, Cheshire, England
Spouse:    Francis Cotton
FHL Film Number:    1836384

Source: Ancestry.com. Cheshire, England, Select Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.


Name:    George Colton [sic]
Gender:    Male
Marriage Date:    20 Apr 1585
Marriage Place:    Worfield,Shropshire,England
Spouse:    Mary Bromley
FHL Film Number:    510686

Source: Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Marriages, 1538–1973. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

 
Name:    George Abell
Gender:    Male
Burial Date:    13 Sep 1630
Burial Place:    Lockington, Leicester, England
FHL Film Number:    819694

Source: Ancestry.com. England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.


Name:    Jane Suliard
Marriage Date:    19 Jun 1578
Parish:    St Olave, Old Jewry
County:    London
Borough:    City of London
Spouse:    Richard Cotton
Record Type:    Marriage
Register Type:    Parish Register
Marriage record of Richard Cotton and jane Suliard

Source: London Metropolitan Archives, St Olave Jewry, Composite register: baptisms 1558 - 1660, marriages 1558/9 - 1653/4, burials 1558 - 1672, P69/OLA2/A/002/MS04400, Item 00. Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives.


Name:    Andrewe Cotton
Gender:    Male
Burial Date:    6 Sep 1640
Burial Place:    Wrenbury, Cheshire, England
FHL Film Number:    1836384

Source: Ancestry.com. Cheshire, England, Select Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1576-1933. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.


Inquisition Post Mortem

RICHARD COTTON, esq. of Combermere.
(File 87. No. 14).
Inquisition taken at Sandbache, 6 April, 3 James I [1605], before Roger Puleston, esq., Henry Mainwaring, esq., escheator & Ralph Wilbraham, gent., feodary, by virtue of the King's commission to enquire after the death of Richard Cotton, esq., deceased, by the oath of Robert Whitney of Coole, Allan Swanwicke of Wirswall, Roger Hocknell of Bromhall, John Egerton of Newhall, Thomas Brooke of Leighton, John Cheswis of Mickley, Richard Horton of Coole, George Cudworth of Bromhall, William Salmon of Coolelane, William Salmon of Wildheath, Roger Bickerton of Towneley, John Cawton of Byrcher, Edward Brassye of Aldelem, Richard Meakin of Hatherton, Edmond Bickerton of Sounde, & William Dodd of Woodhowse, gentlemen.
They say the said Richard Cotton the day he died was seised in fee of a capital mess. in Cumbermeyre & of a water mill, 1000 a. of land, 500 a. of meadow, 1000 a. of pasture, 200 a. of moor, 200 a. of wood & 200 a. of land covered with water in Combermeyre, Wrenbury & Aldelem.
He was also seised in fee tail, to him & his male issue, of the manor of Wilkesley.
The said capital mess. & lands are held of the King & at the time of Richard's death of Queen Elizabeth in chief, by 10th part of a knight's fee & rent of 53s. 4d. a year & worth yearly (clear) £12.
The manor of Wilkesley held in like manner, by 20th part of a knight's fee & yearly rent of £4 12s. 8d. & worth yearly (clear), £56.
The said Richard died 15 June 44 Elizabeth [1602] & George Cotton, esq. is his son & next heir & now aged 40 years & more & since his father's death has occupied the said premises.

Source: Stewart-Brown, R. (ed.), Cheshire Inquisitions Post Mortem: Stuart Period, 1603-1660,Vol. I (A-D), The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1934, p. 146.


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Author: Michelle A. Boyd

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Last updated 30 May 2017