Married:
Mary ONLEY (b. 1517 - d. 1560) (dau. of John Onley of Catesby Castle and
Jane
Pontesbury) (m.2 Sir Ralph Bagnall of Dieulacresse) 1525, Cheshire, England
Children:
1.
Dorothy COTTON (b. 1530 - d. 06 Jun 1608) (m. Edward Torback)
2.
Elizabeth COTTON (b. 1536- d. 1594) (m. William Francis)
5.
Richard COTTON (Sir) (b. 1545 - d. 1602) (m.1 Jane Seyliard -
m.2 Phillippa ? - m.3 Mary Mainwaring)
6.
Winnifred COTTON (d. 1559)
7. Robert
COTTON
8. Dorothy
COTTON
9. George
COTTON
The Cotton
Family of Combermere Abbey has an extensive family ancestry that is
directly descended from Henry II of England, Charlemagne and the ancient
Kings of Wessex. There are also many other notable family descendants.
The Cottons of Combermere rose to great heights in the reign of Henry
VIII, and this was due in a measure to the alliances with other
families by marriage.
George and his younger brothers,
Sir
Richard Cotton, MP (d.
1556); Robert (d. 1591); William; Ralph and Thomas
Cotton were sons of John Cotton, esquire, of Cotton in Wem by his wife
Cecily Mainwaring, dau. of Thomas
Mainwaring,
esquire, of Ightfield by his wife Jane Sutton, dau. of
John Sutton, B. Dudley.
In 1531 George was a favorite companion of the
King in his exercises of
archery and was said to have won much prize money at the butts, or 'rounds', at
Tothill Fields near Westminster.
Sir George Cotton was member of Privy
Council of
Henry VIII; knighted
by King Henry VIII; grantee of
Combermere, Co. Salop
1541, a former Christian monastery founded in 1130 AD and at one time the
third largest church in Cheshire, with its church, bell tower,
Lake of Combermere and the cemetery, all by the
King's letters patent.
In this grant were lands called Dodcote in County Salop, Cliffe and
Hales in Drayton, Erdlet Grange in Staffordshire, Wincell Grange in
County Cheshire and Cotes Grange in Derbyshire. This was mostly in
recognition of Sir George’s service as governor in the
household of the King’s
illegitimate son,
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and
Somerset
since 1526.
His younger brother Richard
was the
Duke’s
comptroller and the two brothers allied with the Duke’s
chamberlain, Sir William Parr, against Richard Croke, the
Greek scholar whom
Henry VIII
had appointed his son’s tutor. Croke complained that they
falsified the accounts and kept Richmond
from his studies, but the Cotton brothers remained on friendly terms
with the
King
who in Jun 1531 paid them £20 for three ‘sets’—either games or wagers—which
he had lost to them in Greenwich Park.
In an
inventory taken following his death in Jul 1536, it was recorded that
Richmond
had given his half-brother
George Talboys more clothing and it had been delivered by
Richmond's
personal attendant and friend, George Cotton.
George pulled
down most of the abbey of
Combermere buildings except the abbots' lodgings. The
original building had a stone ground floor with timber above. Sir George's son,
Richard, remodelled the house in 1563.
Obtained 2/3
of Newhall Manor. Vice-chamberlain of
the Household to
Prince Edward. Steward of Bromfield,
Yale, and Chirk.
Married Mary Onley, dau. of John Onley, Esq., of Catesby, co. Northampton, by
Jane Pontesbury,
dau. of Thomas Pontesbury of Albrighton, co. Salop. He and his wife were granted the abbey of Combermere by the
King, and the manors of Wilkesley
and Pulton, co., Chester.
Sir Richard Cotton
Sir George died at Combermere on 25 Mar 1545.
His widow, who had married secondly Sir Ralph Bagnall of Dieulacresse, died at Combermere on 14 Mar 1559/60.
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