William Cotton

Who was William Cotton?

Sir William James Richmond Cotton was an English merchant and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1885.

Cotton was born at Stratford, London, the son of William Cotton and his wife Caroline Richmond. He became a London merchant and owned iron mines in Norway as well as the Sun and Topping wharves at London Bridge. He was a commissioner of the Inland Revenue and a director of the Liverpool and London Globe Fire and Life Assurance Co. He was a J.P. for Middlesex, Hertfordshire and the City of London. Cotton was a member of the Haberdashers Company, the Saddlers Company the Turners Company and the Fan Makers Company. He was a trustee of St Andrew Undershaft, chairman of the Mary Datchelors Middle Class Girl's School, a governor of Queen Anne's Bounty, a governor off the Royal Hospitals, a member of the committee of Aske's Charity and president of the City of London Rifle Corps.

Cotton was elected an alderman for the city in 1866. In 1868, he stood for parliament unsuccessfully at Southwark. He was Sheriff of London and Middlesex from 1868 to 1869. At the 1874 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for City of London. He was Lord Mayor of London from 1875 to 1876. He lost his seat in parliament in the 1885 UK general election after representation was reduced from four to two under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.