Edward Cotton-Jodrell

Who was Edward Cotton-Jodrell?

Sir Edward Thomas Davenant Cotton-Jodrell K.C.B., known until 1890 as Edward Thomas Davenant Cotton, was a British army officer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1900.

Cotton-Jodrell was the son of Rt. Rev. George Edward Lynch Cotton and his wife Sophia Ann Tomkinson and baptised with the name of Edward Thomas Davenant Cotton. His father was a master at Rugby School and later Bishop of Calcutta. Cotton was educated at Rugby, Marlborough College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He joined the Royal Artillery and became captain. Then with the Cheshire Royal Engineers he attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

Cotton was elected at the Member of Parliament for Wirral at the 1885 general election and held the seat until he stood down at the 1900 general election. In 10 July 1890 his name was legally changed to Edward Thomas Davenant Cotton-Jodrell by Royal Licence.

Cotton-Jodrell was J.P. for Cheshire, and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1901. He was on the Headquarters Staff of the War Office from 1906 to 1912 and became Colonel in the Territorial Forces. He was invested as a Knight Commander, Order of the Bath.