William Cotton (Conservative politician)

Sir William James Richmond Cotton (13 November 1822 – 4 June 1902) was an English merchant and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1885.

He was a commissioner of the Inland Revenue and a director of the Liverpool and London Globe Fire and Life Assurance Co.

[2] Cotton was elected an alderman for the city (Lime street Ward) in 1866, and served as such until 1892.

He was Sheriff of London and Middlesex from 1868 to 1869, and Lord Mayor of London from 1875 to 1876, during which years he opened the new poultry and provisions market at Smithfield and presided over a grand banquet welcoming the Prince of Wales on his return from a tour of India.

[4] He is buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, East Barnet, near London.