Sawtry History
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton 1st Baronet of Conington
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet of Conington, was a descendant of Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland and victor at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. He was born in the small hamlet of Denton Huntingdonshire in 1571. Son of Thomas Cotton and Elizabeth Shirley. Both his father Thomas Cotton and his grandfather, also Thomas Cotton were MP's for Huntingdonshire and held the posts of High Sheriff of Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire at various times. The Cottons originated from Cotton in Cheshire from where they took their name. Robert Cotton was married to Elizabeth Brocas, daugther of William Brocas and Alice Constable, whose father was Sir John Constable, the renowned painter and his wife Dorothy Barnham.
An engraving by
George Vertue 1744
The estate of Conington was inherited by Robert Cotton's great grandfather from a distant relative
and became the ancestral home of the Cottons for many generations. The Conington estate itself has a long and illustrious history dating back to the Anglo Saxons, a subject for another article. Further parcels of land and estates were purchased and in addition to the Conington estate, they held lands at Denton, Steeple Gidding, Glatton Cum Holme, Southoe, Connington near Cambridge, Fotheringay and Exton in Rutland, Woodwalton as well as Holme, Woodwalton and Conington Fens These estates provided valuable agricultural work for labourers and farm workers in these areas.
An oil on canvas by
Cornelius Johnson, 17th to 19th Century
Two portraits of Sir Robert Cotton
from the National Portrait Gallery
It is believed that Robert Cotton, after inheriting the estates from his father after his death in 1592, rebuilt his ancestral home of Conington Castle on his estate at Conington from the stone of the ruins of Fotheringay Castle ,where Mary Queen of Scots was executed and where King Richard III, the Plantagenet king was born, which is why he named his house Connington Castle. As well as providing agricultural jobs, the Conington Estate has provided other jobs for many local people such as gardeners, stockmen, gamekeepers and domestic staff in the Castle down the generations right up until it was demolished in 1955.
In Focus article on Denton and the Conington Estate.
Conington Castle, which was demolished in 1955
Here are links to articles for further reading.
The Cotton Library
Cotton took a house in Westminster and housed his collection of antiquities there giving politicians, scholars and authors free and unfettered access to the materials. The Cotton Library, which stood on where the present House of Lords Chamber is now built, was a meeting place of politicians, parliamentarians, authors and in the last years of Elizabeth 1st's reign, it was the meeting place of the Antiquarian Society. The library was becoming an influential source of material for politicians to argue the points of debate in Parliament. So much so that quiet whispers began, that Cotton was influencing the King's decisions and the Library was being used to sway political parliamentary arguments. In 1615, Robert Carr, the Earl of Somerset, another advisor to the king and a friend of Cotton's, was implicated in the death of Sir Thomas Overbury, a poet and essayist who was poisoned whilst being held in the Tower of London. It is believed that Somerset was involved in a love triangle between himself and Overbury's wife and they conspired to get rid of Overbury but it was not proved. Cotton himself was later implicated in the murder mystery, in which he provided alibi's for Somerset. Cotton was imprisoned for 8 months and was released without trial. But Cotton fell out of favour with the King and people began distancing themselves from him. In the reign of Charles 1st when the Parliamentarians were gathering standing, King Charles' advisors felt that the Cotton Library was too influential and ordered it confiscated in 1630, heartbroken at the loss of his treasures and in ill health, Cotton died in 1631. After the restoration, the library was handed back to Cotton's son, Sir John Cotton who gave it to the nation. It was still housed in a building in Westminster, which caught fire in the early 1700's and some of Cotton's treasures were lost although most were saved. Some of his collection remained at Conington Castle. These materials from the collection of Sir Robert Cotton are now the definitive source of materials for historians today and form much of the basis of the British Library. Until his death he was continuously involved in the management of his Huntingdonshire estates, He was subjected to an attempted blackmail plot in August 1630, he threatened to sue the plotters however he never succeeded. He is buried at Conington.
Member of Parliament, Collector of Antiquities and a Favourite of the King
In 1588 he started collecting priceless artifacts, documents and manuscripts. The importance of his collection was unrivaled. It was the richest collection ever amassed by a private individual. Amongst his many treasures were the Lindisfarne Gospels, The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, two of the contemporary exemplifications of Magna Carta, the only surviving manuscript of the Anglo Saxon poem, Beowulf and many others. In 1601 he became a magistrate and entered Parliament for the first time, as Member for Newtown, Isle of Wight, after that he was returned as MP for Huntingdonshire twice, succeeded by Oliver Cromwell, who was at that time Lord of the Manor of the Sawtry estates. Cotton was then elected to the constituency of Old Sarum in Wiltshire on more that one occasion. He was frequently called upon as an advisor on particular issues arising in Parliament and sat on many committees.. When King James 1st (James 6th of Scotland and Mary Queen of Scot's son) ascended the throne on the death of the childless Queen Elizabeth 1st, Cotton was called upon on several occasions to advise the King on particular matters. These queries became more frequent and he became a trusted advisor and a favourite courtier of King James.