Sir William COTTON, Vice Chamberlain to Henry VI

1420 - 1455  (34 years)

• Name	William COTTON  [1]
  Prefix	Sir
  Suffix	Vice Chamberlain to Henry VI
  Born	9 Jun 1420	Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  FamilySearch ID	L1WH-BCX
  Name	John William COTTON  [2]
  Name	Walter DE COTTEN  [2]
  Buried	1455	Landwade, Suffolk, England   [1]
  Died	22 May 1455	St Albans, Hertfordshire, England   [1]
  Person ID	I594768785	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
  Last Modified	14 Jan 2023

  
  

  Father	Walter COTTON,   b. 1389, Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England ,   d. 14 May 1445, Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England  (Age 56 years)
  Mother	Joan READE,   b. 1380, Checkendon, Oxfordshire, England ,   d. May 1445, Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England  (Age 65 years)
  Married	Abt 1409	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England   [3]
  Family ID	F536729264	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Blanche FRAUNCEYS,   b. 1425, Wickhambrook, Suffolk, England ,   d. Jul 1463, Wickhambrook, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom  (Age 38 years)
  Children	1. Clement COTTON, I,   b. 1438, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England ,   d. 14 Oct 1559, Essex, England  (Age 121 years)   2. Joyce Joan COTTON,   b. 1445, Northover, Somerset, England ,   d. 4 May 1530, England  (Age 85 years)
  Last Modified	14 Jan 2023
  Family ID	F536729263	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  SIR WILLIAM COTTON was born about 1420 of Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England, to Walter Cotton (1376-1445) and Joane Reade (1376-1445.) He married Alice Ann Abbott about 1438 of Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England. Sir William Cotton died 22 May 1455, killed at St. Albans., age 34. Cambridgeshire, England The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated a royal army commanded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who was killed. With King Henry VI captured, a subsequent parliament app Landwade, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, St Nicholas, Landwade was originally the private chapel to the Cotton family of the nearby Landwade Hall. Built in about 1465, as a result of brothers Walter and Thomas Cotton, purchasing Landwade it has many memorials to the Cotton family. Brass epitaph of William Cotton The Tomb of William Cotton from The Ancestry of Thomas Bradbury and His Wife Mary Perkins, p. 151 The Chapel At Landwade, Cambridgeshire from The Ancestry of Thomas Bradbury and His Wife Mary Perkins, p. 152 Battle of St Albans Warwick William Cotton in The Ancestry of Thomas Bradbury and His Wife Mary Perkins By John Brooks Threlfall p. 135: William was the eldest son and inherited Landwade Manor from his father. "Here he lived while serving the crown in various capacities. He was Attorney General and Receiver General of the Duchy of Lancaster for feoffees of Henry VI from Michaelmas 1444, Receiver General of Queen Margaret 19 July 1446, Constable of Clitheroe, Keeper and Ranger of Enfield Park and Parker of Walden. He was Usher of the Chamber in 1444 and 1447, when also Clerk and Porter of the Great Wardrobe, surrendering the clerkship in June 1553, Keeper of the Great Wardrobe, 23 December 1450. He was then the king's Esquire, Justice of the Peace for Cambridge 1447 to his death, also of Cambridge borough and Huntingdon, Member of Parliament representing Cambridge1447 and 1453, He was at the Winchester Parliament 1449 on Duchy business, likewise at Leicester April to June 1540. He was Steward of the Franchises to the Abbey of Bury Saint Edmunds. On 17 August 1446 he was on an enquiry at Lancaster concerning the sheriff's misdeeds. He had a house at Exning, Suffolk, in 1450. pp. 135-6: "His staunch support of King Henry VI cost him his life, for he fell on the Lancastrian side at Saint Albans on 22 May 1455. There were two principal factions among the English lords. On one side was the king and his advisor Edmund, Duke of Somerset. On the other was Richard, Duke of York, a more popular man. Fearing the malice of Edmund, Duke Richard, Richard Earl of Salisbury, Richard Earl of Warwick, .... a large number of their supporters gathered about the town of Saint Albans. On 21 May 1455 Henry VI set out from Westminster to Saint Albans, resting at Watford that night and arriving in the morning at Saint Albans. With him were many dukes, lords, gentlemen and yeoman to the number of 2,000 or more. On this day assembled the Duke of York, the the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick with divers knights and squire to the Key Field by Saint Albans. The king, hearing the duke's coming, put his banner at the place called Butt's Lane in Saint Peter's Street and commanded the ward and barriers to be kept in strong wise. The Duke of York stood firm from 7 in the morning until almost 10 without any blows on either side." p. 136-7: "The duke sent a message to the king demanding that he 'deliver such as we will accuse'. The king in reply threatened him and his followers with the penalties of treason if they did not leave the field at once. The duke thereupon held a council with his leaders and they decided to give battle. "This decided, the Duke of York and the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick between 11 and 12 of the clock at noon broke into the town in three different places and several places of the aforesaid street. Lord Clifford held the barriers that the Duke of York might not enter the town. The Earl of Warwick gathered his men and ferociously broke in by the garden side between the sign of the Key and the sign of the Chequer in Hollowell Street; and as soon as they were in town they blew trumpets and shouted with a great voice, 'A Warwick! A Warwick! And at once forthwith after the breaking in, they set on them manually. And as of Lords, of name were slain the Lord Clifford, the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, Sir Bertram Entwistle, knight, and of men of court, William Zouch, John Batryaux, Ralph of Bapthorp and his son, William Corbin, squire, William Cotton, receiver of the Duchery of Lancaster, etc. About 50 in all of the king's followers were killed. The king was wounded in the neck with an arrow. The Duke of Buckingham with an arrow in the visage, the Lord of Stafford in the hand by an arrow in the visage, the Lord of Stafford in the hand by an arrow, the Earl of Dorset, Sir John Wenlock and other Lancastrians. Some fled the scene, abandoning their arms, even horses. This done, the Duke of York, the Earl of Salisbury, and the Earl of Warwick came to the king and on their knees besought him of grace and forgiveness for what they had done, begged him to take them as his true liege men, saying that they never intended hurt to this person. The king forgave them and ordered them to stop their followers and see that no harm should be done. They obeyed his command and the cry to cease the fighting went out. So ended the battle (excerpts from an account of the battle in the Paston Letters I:327). "This battle was the first of the hostilities between the parties of York and Lancaster, in what came to be known as the War of the Roses. The Lancastrians, that is King Henry's forces, lost this battle and a few years later Henry lost his throne. "Inquisitions Post Mortem were held, one at Exning on 31 October, and one 3 November at New Market. Both state that he died on the Thursday before the Feast of Pentacost, which was the 22nd of May. "William Cotton's daughter-in-law's father, Nicholas Sharp, succeeded him as Receiver General of the Duchy of Lancaster. "William Cotton was buried in the Landwade Chapel and his manor of Landwade passed to his eldest son, Sir Thomas Cotton, then aged 17." p. 141: "In addition to the estate at Landwade originally purchased by his father, William Cotton also received from his father an estate in nearby Exning, county Suffolk, called Cotton Manor." p. 143: "For many years William Cotton was a Commissioner of the Pease for Cambridgeshire, for the town of Cambridge and for H Wikitree: Landwade is a parish four miles north of Newmarket. One of the smallest parishes in the county, it is only 1 kilometre from north to south and at most 500m from east to west. William Cotton inheritted Landwade manor from his father Walter in 1445, and on his death in 1455 it passed to his son Thomas (d. 1499)[1] He died 22 May 1455 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. Alice ABBOTT, born 1418 in London, Middlesex, England. Alice married William Cotton, Esq. on 1438 in Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England. She died on Nov. 21st 1473 in Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England They had the following children: Sir Thomas COTTON Knight was born 1439 and died 30 Jul 1499. William COTTON II was born 1441 in Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England. Joan COTTON was born 1443. Katherine COTTON was born 1445. Andrew COTTON was born 1447 in Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England. Edmund COTTON was born 1449. John COTTON was born 1451 in Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England. Audrey COTTON was born 1453 and died 1505. Robert COTTON was born 1455 in Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England. [2] [example] ALICE ANN ABBOTT was born about 1418 of Landwade, Forest Heath, Suffolk, England, to John Symond Abbott III (1381-1443) and Agnes Elmyre (1387-1443.) She married Sir William Cotton about 1438 of Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England. Alice Abbott passed away 21 November 1473, Landwade, Cambridgeshire, England, age 55. Cambridgeshire, England Landwade Chapel Cambridgeshire England Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Wikitree: Ann Abbot was the daughter of John Abbott, Esq., (1381-1443) in London, an armiger, and Agnes (b. 1390). She m. William Cotton Esq. and they had 6 sons and 3 da. Children: 1.Catherine m. Thomas Higham 2.Joan m. Clement HIgham 3.Etheldreda [Audria] m. (1) Thomas Barton, (2) Sir Richard Gardiner, Lord Mayor of London and (3) Sir Gilbert Talbot 4.Thomas 5.William of Clavering, Essex 6.Andrew dsp. 7.Edmund of Redgrave, Suffolx m. Ela Convers, gd. of Sir Robert Conyers 8.John dsp. 9.Robert Children of William Cotton and Alice Ann Abbott: 1.Janet Cotton (1424-) 2.Elizabeth Cotton (1446-) 3.Catherine de Cotton (1446-1494) 4.Etheldreda Cotton (1446-1494) 5.Edmund Cotton (1449-) 6.William Cotton (1450-1461) 7.Andrew Cotton (1450-) 8.*AUDREY OR ETHELDREDA COTTON (1453-1505) 9.Joan Cotton (1455-) 10.Robert Cotton (1455-) +

  
  

• Sources

  [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 14 Jan 2023), entry for Joyce Joan Cotton, person ID L152-42X. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 14 Jan 2023), entry for William Cotton, person ID L1WH-BCX. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 14 Jan 2023), entry for Walter Cotton, person ID MBL3-4P5. (Reliability: 3).