Death of Bernard Cotton?

[Taylor94]

Hello

I looking for the death or anything relating to the death of Bernard Cotton, Esquire, of Dadlington, Leicestershire.

On his son's apprenticeship record he is listed as deceased by 1718 but I cant find anything.
It was thought he was buried in the Halford family crypt at Wistow church where his wife's family are buried but the stone slab in the chancel is for Bernard's son, Mr Bernard Cotton who died 1732 aged 29.
I can find no will or probate for Bernard Sr. The last record I can find is of a bond between him and John Davis, Gentleman, of Caldicote, Warwickshire in 1711.

[maddys52]

The pedigree in "The history and antiquities of the county of Leicester." by John Nichols et al updated and published in 1815, says Bernard COTTON who died in 1732 was the son of Samuel COTTON of Dadlington  and Eleanor (dau of Sir John Barnard of Abingdon) .

[Taylor94]

Hello

Yes, Nichols is incorrect. He is not always correct in the pedigrees he gives. Bernard was indeed son of Samuel and Elizabeth but the Bernard who died in 1732 must be Bernard's son Bernard who was apprenticed in 1718.
The Bernard I am searching for is the elder -

Bernard Cotton, Esquire.
Bapt 1665 Poddington, Bedfordshire.
Son of Samuel Cotton, Esquire, of Laughton, Leicestershire and Winwick, Bedfordshire and Eleanor Bernard, daughter of Sir John Bernard of Abington, Northamptonshire.
Matriculated University of Oxford 1683.
Married Rebecca Halford, daughter of Sir Thomas Halford, 2nd Baronet. 1697 Wistow, Leicestershire.
Listed as deceased on sons apprenticeship record in 1718.

I'm not sure how Nichols missed that the slab states Bernard Cotton aged 29 which would chronologically be impossible to be Bernard Sr.

[DCB]

The only records I can find are of a Burnard/Bernard Cotton marrying Rebecca Halford in Wistow in 1697 (day not clear) and a burial in Wistow on 25 Mar 1733 (no age given), the first day of the new calendar.

David

[Taylor94]

Perhaps Bernard's death date is lost in time.
It must be between 1711 and 1718.

The Bernard Cotton who is buried 1732/33 Wistow is the Bernard Cotton memorialised on a stone slab in Wistow chancel. '
Here lyeth the body of Mr Bernard Cotton, who departed this life March 24th 1732, aged 29 years'

Strange how there is no burial record I can find or any admon/will given that he had a sizable estate at Dadlington.

[Jonson1]

Hello Mr Dudley
I think that the answer to this one is lost in the mists of time, but thought that I would reply as I too descend from the marriage of Bernard Cotton and Rebecca Halford.  I have an 1860 letter addressed to my great grandmother, then Miss Sarah Harrison, which details her descent from the Cotton/Halford families via her grandfather, Thomas Chapman Harrison who married Elizabeth Fowke(s).  This descent is detailed in Nichols and the Harrisons, being yeoman farmers and nurserymen of Leicester made good, were obviously seeking to 'beef up' their family tree at that time. Another member of the family had a parchment pedigree of the Cotton and Halford families drawn up from Nichols in the late 19th century, and I have a photocopy of this.

Having investigated this link years ago when I researched it in the Leicester Record Office, I have to say that I was a little  dubious as I wondered why Eleanor (various spellings) Cotton, daughter of Bernard Cotton and Rebecca Halford presumably gentry, was marrying Robert Paul(l), a framework knitter who couldn't sign his name on the marriage license.  You do however mention that Bernard Cotton was apprenticed to a trade himself and I wonder what that was?  I have recently gone through everything again on Find My Past and am a little happier with the link, especially as it is evident from his will that Robert Paul was a man of property and he had learnt to sign his name by the time of his death.  I am not too worried by the few anomalies of date such as Eleanor's baptism (the correct date seems to be March 10th 1700 at Dadlington) and Bernard Cotton's burial (March 25th 1733 at Wistow).  The different date on the stone slab for Bernard Cotton is confusing, but sometimes memorials were laid down many years after the event, and this could be an explanation.

It is frustrating that Bernard Cotton doesn't show up in more documents and that there aren't relevant Halford Wills for that time, but perhaps, considering the dates, we are lucky with what we have got.

Best wishes
John   

[Taylor94]

Hello John
I descend from Rebecca Fowkes who married John Pool of Barlestone.

I did first think how it was unusual that a daughter of an 'Esquire' was marrying a Framework knitter but it turns out the Paul family of Hinckley were quite prosperous and can be traced back to the 1500s in Hinckley. One Robert Paul in this line has inventory amounting to £244, quite a substantial sum in 1665. Him and his father are shown to be able to read as they are listed with Books and Bibles in their personal estates along side Swords, Daggers and Bows. I wonder if at some point they were men at arms.

Bernards son Bernard (Brother of Eleanor) was apprenticed to a Goldsmith in London in 1718. He then dies in Wistow and the slab is erected.
People sometimes were not completely accurate or truthful with their dates at marriage but this corresponds to the records found and the names Selina and Rebecca was used throughout the Pool and Fowkes family.

Nichols does well but there are some inaccuracies in his Cotton and Halford pedigrees.
He gives Bernard Sr the death date of his son Bernard Jr and some later Cotton dates are a bit off.
Sir Thomas Halford's mother (Wife of Andrew) is Mary Hackett of Creaton not Jane Leader.

Bernard Sr seems to have been heir of his father and there is some dealings over the lordship of Dadlington. Eleanor's brother sells this estate in 1729 and buys land in America. Apparently the heirs of his 3 sisters inherited and sold this estate at Egg Harbour in 1772, but I haven't found anything relating to the Paul/Fowkes families dealing with this.

The lack of death details for Sir Thomas Halford is also annoying, I cant find a burial anywhere. He apparently has an Admon which may have a Inventory but I'm not sure how to access it.

[Jonson1]

Thanks for this.  It all adds to my rather meagre knowledge of the families and good to have my doubts laid to rest about the marriage of Eleanor Cotton to Robert Paul (perhaps not such a mésalliance after all!).

It is a pity that the Dadlington registers are so poor for this period, and some of the Wistow pages are a bit faint. I realise too that I got it wrong like others in thinking that it was Bernard Cotton the father who is commemorated by the slab at Wistow and it has to be the son, in that he was only 29 at the age of death.  Interesting that he was commemorated at Wistow however, and it argues possibly that his father was still living.  Who knows, it could have the father who was buried the following year on March 25th at Wistow.

I had hoped that Sir Thomas Halford would have left a will which might have answered some of these queries.  There is only a PCC administration at the National Archives however and I felt that it wasn't worth getting hold of, although it might have an inventory with it.  The entry via Find My Past is "PCC administration to Lady Selina Halford relict.  Sir Thomas Halford of Wistow, Leics. Date 4th July 1679."  Confusingly there is a further administration for Sir Thomas at Leicester Record Office in 1681, with benefit to Selina, but this could just be an adjustment to the original. It does not refer to the next Sir Thomas as he died in 1690.

John

[Taylor94]

The Cottons don't frequent the Dadlington registers a lot and it makes me think they are else where. Bernards father Samuel had land at Hinwick, Bedfordshire and Laughton, leic.
Bernard and all his children are mentioned in the will of his sister Mary Cotton, Spinster in 1706.
The last we see of Bernard Sr is the land document from 1711 and then on his sons apprenticeship record he is listed as deceased, so he must have died sometime between 1711-1718.
Sometimes Bernard is listed with the name Barnister which seems to be a variant of Barnard/Bernard. Bernard Sr is also listed in a document held in the parliament archives about him selling some of his estate to pay debts. I'm hoping to view it soon.



I'd say Bernard Jr was buried in Wistow because that's where his mothers family are seated.

It's also odd how Sir Thomas doesn't seem to have been commemorated at Wistow church the same as his Grandfather, Sons and Nephews, despite himself being the 2nd Baronet.
Thomas's father Andrew Halford, Esq, does not have a will either but a slim inventory. I think this is due to his estate being compounded during the civil war as Andrew had to pay a substantial amount of money to save his life as he was personally condemned to death by Cromwell for hanging captured parliamentarian soldiers outside of Leicester without proper trial.

I have sent you a PM if you would like to view the tree I have.