William Cotton

Awarded 3/4 of the compensation with Thomas Crafer (q.v.) as trustees under the will of Mary Chandler (q.v.): the other 1/4 was awarded to Mary Cotton (q.v.), possibly his daughter, and William Samuel Augustine Ellis (q.v.).

1. Will of William Cotton late of 25 Bryanston Square and of the parish of St Anne Lewes Sussex who died 7/7/1861 proved 29/7/1861 by Charles Long Crafer of Hampton Wick and Thomas John Crafer of Malvern Cottage, New Park Road, Clapham, effects under £70,000. Burial of William Cotton aged 81 at All Souls Kensal Green 13/7/1861.

2. In 1841, William Cotton was living in Bryanston Square with two servants, according to the census records for St Marylebone, Middlesex. According to the census of 1851, William Catton [sic], aged 70, widower, fundholder, born Marylebone, was living in St Annes, Lewes, Sussex, with three servants. In 1861, William Cotton, widower, aged 74 [sic], fundholder, born Marylebone, was living at 25 Bryanston Square with four servants.  

3. On 29/6/1814 William Cotton Esq., of St Marylebone, married Mary Harriet Chandler a minor, with the consent of Harriet Chandler her guardian under the will of George Chandler. Mary Chandler was among the witnesses. Mary Harriet died in 1818.

4. William Cotton was a major beneficiary of the will of Mary Chandler as well as being her trustee and executor. He was her brother-in-law as well as her cousin; in her will she refers to him as “cousin”, but a codicil dated 14/05/1833 mentions he married her late sister. He inherited her personal estate including £36,000 of bank annuities at 3% although she left her West India property to her father's family.

5. Mary Chandler, William Cotton and William Samuel Augustine Ellis were all cousins: Mary Chandler was the daughter of Harriot Attwick and George Gascoyne (later Chandler), William Cotton was the son of Mary Attwick and Thomas Cotton, and William Samuel Augustine Ellis was the son of Caroline Attwick and Rev William Ellis. Their mothers were the three daughters of William Attwick, an ironmonger of Gosport, who supplied mooring chains to the Portsmouth dockyard.

We are grateful for the assistance of Amanda Knight with this entry.

T71/859 Clarendon no. 410A, B & C. T71/1187 identifies William Cotton as of Bryanston Square. This is a different man from William Cotton, Governor of the Bank of England 1842-1845 and the son-in-law of Thomas Lane of Leyton Grange (q.v.).

1. National Probate Calendar 1861; Ancestry.com, London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 [database online].

2. Findmypast.com, 1841, 1851, and 1861 censuses online.

3. Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online]. Ancestry.com, London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 [database online].

4. PROB 11/1818/508.

5. PROB 11/1537/372. National Archives - Records of the Royal Navy Board and Board of Admiralty.