Cotton of Combermere, co. Cheshire
William Gann
daughter of John Onley and his wife, Jane Pontesbury.
Sir George Cotton and his wife had one son, Richard Cotton, Esq., who
married first Mary Mainwaring (1538-1577/8). Richard was born 27 Aug
1539; died 14 Jun 1602. Richard and Mary Cotton had: Frances,
Arthur, Mary, Andrew, Dorothy, Sir George, Elizabeth, and Winifred
Cotton.
After Mary (Mainwaring) Cotton died in 1577/78, Richard married
secondly Jane/Joane Seyliard, daughter of William Seyliard and his
wife, Jane Todd of Kent. Richard and Jane were married 19 June 1578
at St. Olave Jewry, Middlesex. Jane died 3 July 1596 and was buried at
Wrenbury, Cheshire. Wrenbury is located close to Combermere.
Previous researchers have thought that Richard and Jane had four sons
and two daughters. We know from the will of Jane (Todd) Seyliard that
one of the daughters was named Jane/Joane. From Wrenbury parish
records, it appears that three sons died young: Richard, d. 19 Jan
1598; Thomas, d. 25 Mar 1597; and Robert, d. 2 June 1596. Note that
Robert's mother, Jane, died a month later and was buried at Wrenbury.
All these sons are also buried at Wrenbury parish church.
Question: Was the fourth son named Jeffrey or Geffray Cotton?
Richard Cotton, Esq., married thirdly Phillippa Dormer, a widow. They
had two children: Phillip, b. 1598, and Bridgett, b. 1600.
Richard Cotton, Esq., died 14 June 1602, and was buried the next day
at Holy Trinity, Stoke, near Coventry. His IRM (inquisition post
mortem) was at Sandback on 6 April 1605. Richard's first born son,
Sir George Cotton, was the only child or heir named in this document.
Bunbury parish is located a few miles north of the family home,
Combermere, where Richard was raised and where he and his family lived
from time to time. It appears that he and his third wife did not live
there.
The Bunbury parish records list six children born to a Jeffray/Geffray
Cotton between May 1607 and Nov 1622. On 28 Dec 1622, Geffray Cotton,
"a poor man of Bunbury," was buried. Geffray's wife was apparently
named Joan cotton. In the Bunbury parish register, there is a burial
entry dated 23 March 1643 for Joane Cotton, "a poor woman of Bunbury."
One of the sons of Jeffray Cotton was named William, and he was
baptized on 18 March 1609 at Bunbury.
Years later, the Rev. William Cotton of Hungar's Parish, Accawmack
County, Virginia, left a will c. 1640. In his will, he named his
mother, "Joane Cotton of Bunbury parish, Cheshire."
This is the only fact that I have as a clue to the English home of
Rev. William Cotton.
Since the Cotton family of Combermere appears to be well-known, I am
requesting any help about the Richard Cotton, Esq., family of
Combermere.
I am seriously interested in connecting the Rev. William Cotton to his
Cotton family lineage. At this time, I can only speculate that Rev.
William Cotton is one and the same with the William who was born at
Bunbury parish, the son of Jeffray Cotton. And, then since Rev.
William named his mother, "Joane Cotton of Bunbury parish, Cheshire,"
in his 1640 will, she would have still been alive at that time, since
the burial of a Joane Cotton does not occur until March 1643.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
William R. Gann
Renia
http://www.fhsc.org.uk/wills/cop-coz.htm
gives a list of all wills proved in Cheshire 1492-1857.
It includes the following early Cottons of Combermere, which may be
worth you looking into:
COTTON, ANDREW of COMBERMERE 1640
COTTON, DOROTHY of COMBERMERE SPINSTER 1647
COTTON, ELIZABETH of COMBERMERE WIDOW 1648
COTTON, GEORGE of COMBERMERE ESQ 1647
There are none of relevance for Bunbury.
This website
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/8555/visit.html
gives the name of someone who has access to the visitation of Cheshire
of 1580, including Cotton. A bit early for you, but it might be useful.
I know nothing more about this family, but I am not happy about the
possibility of a family of this calibre having "poor persons" buried
roundabouts. In other words, the Bunbury Cottons were probably a
different family from the Combermere Cottons, certainly a different
class, though that is not to say that a relationship may not be found
much further back. Judging by the Cotton wills available on the website
(given above) it was a fairly strong name in Cheshire.
Renia
Dewayne E. Perry
> Previous researchers have thought that Richard and Jane had four sons
> and two daughters. We know from the will of Jane (Todd) Seyliard that
> one of the daughters was named Jane/Joane. From Wrenbury parish
> records, it appears that three sons died young: Richard, d. 19 Jan
> 1598; Thomas, d. 25 Mar 1597; and Robert, d. 2 June 1596. Note that
> Robert's mother, Jane, died a month later and was buried at Wrenbury.
> All these sons are also buried at Wrenbury parish church.
the latest reference i have on the cotton's (relative to robert
abell's ancestry) is that of neil d thompson's article on the
abell-cotton-mainwaring ancestry of robert abell of weymouth and
rehoboth, mass in <i>the genealogist</i> 5:2 (fall 1984) pp 158-171.
there thompson finds support for only one daughter of jane
(seyliard) cotton.
do you have more recent sources? if so i would like to know them
for my data on the abell ancestry.
many thanks - dewayne
ps annie, here is another set of names to drop on behalf of my wife :-)
Chris Phillips
Renia Simmonds wrote:
> This website
> http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/8555/visit.html
> gives the name of someone who has access to the visitation of Cheshire
> of 1580, including Cotton. A bit early for you, but it might be useful.
There are also some scanned images of the Harleain Society's edition of
that visitation at:
http://members.nbci.com/ocgenealogy/visitati1.htm
And also scanned images of the Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society's
edition of the 1613 visitation of Cheshire at:
http://www.usigs.org/library/books/uk/Cheshire1909/
Chris Phillips
William Gann
Many thanks for your response to my query.
Yes, I, too, have read Neil Thompson's fine article on the
Abell-Mainwaring line. I remember seeing various comments and tidbits
about the Frances Cotton-George Abell marriage. I did find in the
Wrenbury parish register the marriage of them: 7 May 1599. I also
found someplace in the myriad of sources that I checked over time that
Frances and George Abell had 4 children: I can not recall just what
reference this was in but their names were: Mary, George, Robert, and
Richard. I also found a reference that said Frances was born in
1555573 rather than in 1561. She died in 1632. George died in 1630.
I'm sorry that I can't recall all the references where I found these
various details, but at the time I was using a large sheet of paper
and penciling in any bit of details that I found. I have spent months
in the British Library looking at every reference possible for Cotton
data, which I felt, would be related to Sir George and his son,
Richard Cotton, Esq.
In the Cheshire Record Office, I found a handwritten manuscript of
over 100 pages on this family. In this manuscript, it states that
Richard Cotton by his second marriage had four sons and two daughters.
It also states his wife's death/burial of 3 July 1596 at Wrenbury.
Also, there is a portrait of "Janett" Cotton at Combermere who is
presumed to be the second wife of Richard.
Frances Cotton and George Abell are not named in this manuscript. I
only have pp. 87 to 108 of this mss. As I recall the first part was
about much earlier Cottons. I do recall, however, that in my research
in England, I did see various accounts about Frances and George Abell.
I assume you know that you can go online to the British Library and
to the PRO and type in a surname and get a list of original documents
in their collections.
William Gann