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Sydney Cotton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Sydney Cotton
Born2 December 1792
Died19 February 1874 (aged 81)
Buried
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
RankLieutenant-General
CommandsNorthern District
Battles / warsIndian Rebellion
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Lieutenant-General Sir Sydney John Cotton GCB (2 December 1792 – 19 February 1874) was a British Army officer. He was the commandment of the Moreton Bay penal colony in Australia.

Military career

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Born the second son of Henry Calveley Cotton of Woodcote, Oxfordshire, England, and his wife Matilda, daughter and heiress of John Lockwood of Dews Hall, Essex, Cotton joined the British Army in 1810 as a Cornet in the 22nd Light Dragoons.

He served in India from 1810 to 1835.

He served extensively in Australia (1835 to 1842) including being the commandant of the Moreton Bay penal colony (now the city of Brisbane) from 1837 to 1839.[1]

He returned to India for further service 1842 to 1863, including service throughout the Indian Rebellion of 1857–58.

For his frontier services, Cotton was appointed KCB and after returning to England he became General Officer Commanding Northern District in July 1865.[2] He was promoted to lieutenant-General in 1866 and, after publishing "Nine Years on the North-West Frontier of India from 1854 to 1863" in 1868, he was advanced to GCB in 1872.

He was Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1872 until 1874.[3]

Funerary monument, Brompton Cemetery, London.

He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

Mount Cotton, Queensland is named after him.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cranfield, Louis R. (Louis Radnor), 1927- (1 January 1964), Early commandants of Moreton Bay, Royal Historical Society of Queensland, retrieved 10 October 2020{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  3. ^ Survey of London, volume 11, edited by Walter H. Godfrey (editor), Published 1927
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Military offices
Preceded by GOC Northern District
1865–1866
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Governor, Royal Hospital Chelsea
1872–1874
Succeeded by