William Cotton (bishop)

[1] He was the eldest son of John Cotton, a Citizen of the City of London by his wife Pery Cheyne.

[2] The junior branch of the Cotton family descended from Agnes de Ridware adopted the armorials of Ridware (Azure, an eagle displayed argent)[3] in lieu of their paternal arms of Cotton, which junior branch included Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet (1570–1631) of Conington in Huntingdonshire, founder of the Cottonian Library.

George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, had licensed Hazard to preach, but Cotton was not satisfied with that.

[8][9] Cotton is credited with ordering the oldest documented extant cat flap, with a payment of eight pence made to carpenters at Exeter Cathedral to cut a hole in a door to enable his cat to hunt for rodents.

[11] By his wife he had children as follows: He died on 6 August 1621 and was buried in Exeter Cathedral where his fine monument with recumbent effigy survives.