COTTON, John (1671-1736), of Little Grove, East Barnet, Herts., and the Middle Temple, London.

Cotton was connected with the Duke of Ormonde,Add. 28893, f. 473. who as high steward of Westminster appointed him his deputy to preside over the court of burgesses. He was returned as a Tory for Westminster in 1722 with the support of Atterbury, whom he advised in financial matters.Nichols, Epistolary Corresp. Bp. Atterbury, iv. 225-6, 256; v, 133-7. Unseated on petition, he stood again, but was defeated. During an illness in 1726-7, Archibald Hutcheson replaced him as deputy steward of Westminster.Ibid. iv. 226; court of burgesses of Westminster. Suffering ‘many losses and misfortunes’,PCC 53 Wake. in 1728 he had to sell Little Grove, where he had built a mansion.East Barnet, 88, 110. He died December 1736.