A Cotton Thread - part 1
Corporal James Henry Cotton Royal Warwickshire Regiment and Royal Engineers
The Man James Henry Cotton (Harry) was born on Sunday 29th October 1876 in Rugby Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire son of George a Market Gardener and Sarah nee Smith. One of eight children, Ernest William born in 1874, Peggy Edith 1876, George 1880, Arthur 1881, Minnie 1884, Herbert 1887, Ethel 1889.
He was Baptised on 4th July 1878, together with Ernest and ‘Edith’ at St Marks Church, Rugby Road, Leamington and in the 1881 census the family were living at 14 Binswood Street and James listed by his middle name of ‘Henry’ and Ernest as ‘William’, an important point to note. In 1891 they lived at 6 Windsor Place and Harry aged 14 was now working as a plumber.
In about 1895 Harry enlisted into the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment using the name Henry or Harry, as a Private with service number 4745. He saw extensive service in India and the Sudan the latter during The Mahdist War and in action in the Atbara Campaign of 8th April 1898 and the Battle of Omdurman 2nd September 1898. He was awarded the Queens Sudan Medal and Khedive’s Sudan Medal with clasps ‘The Atbara’ and ‘Khartoum’ for his service.
His forename Henry, or Harry as he was known appears to have been confused as an A in the handwritten records of the day, as although his service number and regiment are correct on both medals and rolls, his QSM is engraved A and KSM as H – an easy mistake to make considering the letters involved and the flourishing script.
He was Baptised on 4th July 1878, together with Ernest and ‘Edith’ at St Marks Church, Rugby Road, Leamington and in the 1881 census the family were living at 14 Binswood Street and James listed by his middle name of ‘Henry’ and Ernest as ‘William’, an important point to note. In 1891 they lived at 6 Windsor Place and Harry aged 14 was now working as a plumber.
In about 1895 Harry enlisted into the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment using the name Henry or Harry, as a Private with service number 4745. He saw extensive service in India and the Sudan the latter during The Mahdist War and in action in the Atbara Campaign of 8th April 1898 and the Battle of Omdurman 2nd September 1898. He was awarded the Queens Sudan Medal and Khedive’s Sudan Medal with clasps ‘The Atbara’ and ‘Khartoum’ for his service.
His forename Henry, or Harry as he was known appears to have been confused as an A in the handwritten records of the day, as although his service number and regiment are correct on both medals and rolls, his QSM is engraved A and KSM as H – an easy mistake to make considering the letters involved and the flourishing script.
The 1901 census shows Harrys’ family living at the same address in Windsor Place and following completion of his full-time service, Harry left the Army and joined the Post Office in Leamington Spa as a Postman in 1904, aged 28, his appointment appearing in the London Gazette of 1st November 1904.
On 24th April 1909 he married Eleanor Staley in St Paul’s Church, Foleshill, Coventry and in the census of 1911, they were living at 16 Leam Street, Leamington Spa, having no children.
Following the outbreak of World War I on 4th August 1914, Harry aged 38 was recalled to the Army, enlisting into the Royal Engineers, Postal Service as a Pioneer on 20th November 1914. His new service number was 47529 and he entered France and Flanders on 2nd December as part of the British Expeditionary Force.
He was described as 5’.5” tall, weighing 144 lbs, a girth of 34.½“, fresh complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair. He had five tattoos on his right arm and three on his left. His religion was Church of England.
On 1st October 1915 he was posted as a Sapper, serving in and surviving the war. Following the Armistice, he was promoted to Corporal on 16th November 1918 and transferred to the Z Class Reserve on 2nd May 1919. The Class Z Reserve was a contingent of the British Army consisting of previously enlisted soldiers, now discharged. It was authorised by an Army Order of 3 December 1918. When expected problems with violations of the Armistice with Germany did not materialise, it was abolished on 31 March 1920.
On 24th April 1909 he married Eleanor Staley in St Paul’s Church, Foleshill, Coventry and in the census of 1911, they were living at 16 Leam Street, Leamington Spa, having no children.
Following the outbreak of World War I on 4th August 1914, Harry aged 38 was recalled to the Army, enlisting into the Royal Engineers, Postal Service as a Pioneer on 20th November 1914. His new service number was 47529 and he entered France and Flanders on 2nd December as part of the British Expeditionary Force.
He was described as 5’.5” tall, weighing 144 lbs, a girth of 34.½“, fresh complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair. He had five tattoos on his right arm and three on his left. His religion was Church of England.
On 1st October 1915 he was posted as a Sapper, serving in and surviving the war. Following the Armistice, he was promoted to Corporal on 16th November 1918 and transferred to the Z Class Reserve on 2nd May 1919. The Class Z Reserve was a contingent of the British Army consisting of previously enlisted soldiers, now discharged. It was authorised by an Army Order of 3 December 1918. When expected problems with violations of the Armistice with Germany did not materialise, it was abolished on 31 March 1920.
Following the war, he applied for a disability award on 27th October because of varicose veins aggravated due to war service, these were judged to be a 15% disability and he was awarded a payment of 6 shillings a week to be reviewed in one year. His surviving service records and pension card also refer to his Sudan medals and previous service number.
Harry was awarded the 1914-15 Star as a Pioneer and the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals as a Sapper for his war service. His medal roll shows him as H Cotton, the H is crossed out and his correct initials J H entered, indicating he was still using the name Harry, per the earlier Sudan rolls and 1881 census.
Harry returned to his work as a Postman in Leamington Spa and on 6th August 1934 Eleanor sadly died at 2 Clarendon Place in Leamington leaving £764.5/- and 5d to James.
Harry re-married during the third quarter of 1935 to Doris M Smith in Warwick and retired, still as a postman in 1936 aged 60. He was awarded the Imperial Service Medal in the London Gazette of 3rd November and in the 1939 Register, James and Doris are shown still living at 16 Leam Street. Tragically Doris too died of Tuberculosis aged just 37 in the first quarter of 1940.
Harry seemed to like animals, as he had a mongoose at one stage, as well as apparently a parrot which survived him, and was to have been inherited by my mother, but in the end it went to another relative who was willing to care for it. He also kept the family entertained with tales of his service in India
Harry was described by his great niece as a cheerful person, despite the loss of two young wives.
Harry passed away eight years later at Warneford Hospital in Leamington Spa on 5th February 1948 aged 71. He left no will but probate was granted to his sister Minnie Pitman and he left £183.0/-. 4d.
Harry was awarded the 1914-15 Star as a Pioneer and the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals as a Sapper for his war service. His medal roll shows him as H Cotton, the H is crossed out and his correct initials J H entered, indicating he was still using the name Harry, per the earlier Sudan rolls and 1881 census.
Harry returned to his work as a Postman in Leamington Spa and on 6th August 1934 Eleanor sadly died at 2 Clarendon Place in Leamington leaving £764.5/- and 5d to James.
Harry re-married during the third quarter of 1935 to Doris M Smith in Warwick and retired, still as a postman in 1936 aged 60. He was awarded the Imperial Service Medal in the London Gazette of 3rd November and in the 1939 Register, James and Doris are shown still living at 16 Leam Street. Tragically Doris too died of Tuberculosis aged just 37 in the first quarter of 1940.
Harry seemed to like animals, as he had a mongoose at one stage, as well as apparently a parrot which survived him, and was to have been inherited by my mother, but in the end it went to another relative who was willing to care for it. He also kept the family entertained with tales of his service in India
Harry was described by his great niece as a cheerful person, despite the loss of two young wives.
Harry passed away eight years later at Warneford Hospital in Leamington Spa on 5th February 1948 aged 71. He left no will but probate was granted to his sister Minnie Pitman and he left £183.0/-. 4d.
The Story (Including Pitman, Lenton and Pratt) The medal group awarded to James Henry Cotton were acquired in November 2022 from a friend, who had inherited them from his father. They were of interest because a Queen’s Sudan Medal group had been coveted for over 45 years, the recipient was from Leamington Spa and especially as it came with a World War I trio and Imperial Service Medal.
These were followed a week later from the same friend, by three seemingly random sets of other medals, a World War I pair and Imperial Service Medal to Robert George Pitman, Royal Engineers, Single 1914-18 British War Medal (Victory sadly missing) to W L Pratt of the Leicestershire Regiment and a World War I pair to
W L Lenton, Royal Engineers and some middle eastern type artefacts. The vendor had no idea who they belonged to or what, if any relationship they were to him apart from Lenton who he said was his grandfather.
So, the research on all four groups began in earnest, beginning with Cotton. When checked closely it was found that the WWI and ISM were named correctly to the recipient, James Henry Cotton, Royal Engineers and service number 47529, whereas the Queens Sudan was named to A Cotton and the Khedive’s Sudan to H Cotton, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and number 4745.
Initially it was feared the medals may have belonged to one of James’ brothers as he had one named Arthur and another Herbert. However, the original uniform medal ribbon bar with the group, minus the ISM ribbon, indicated they were mounted as worn by one person, additionally both brothers would have been too young to see active service in the Sudan.
Lengthy research took place on Ancestry.UK revealing the various medal rolls and some surviving, partially burnt World War I records. All proving invaluable in helping to piece a biography together and confirming the medals did indeed all belong to James Henry. Firstly, the handwritten rolls for the Sudan medals do say A Cotton, but it is easy to see how A could have been mistaken for H and vice versa. Secondly the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medal roll show his initial as H, this being crossed out and J H adding. Thirdly the census of 1881 show James listed as Henry. Fourthly his surviving records showed he has served in the Royal Warwicks and awarded both Sudan medals with two clasps. Finally and most importantly his World War 1 pension card, showed his full name and both service numbers, thus confirming they were indeed all James’ medals.
Contact was made via ancestry.UK with the Granddaughter of George Cotton (James’ brother) who as well as confirming James was known by everyone as ‘Harry’, thus solving the early medal naming query, also provided more biographical detail and a rather poor quality, but nonetheless important, photograph of Harry, allowing his face to be put to his medals after so many years apart.
Once this was confirmed all the relevant information was pieced together and a comprehensive biography completed. An extremely pleasing group and so good to have the medal that has for so many years been of interest. Research then began on the remaining three groups, beginning with Pitman.
PITMAN - Ancestry.UK quickly revealed that ‘George’ as he was known, had married Minnie Cotton, Harry’s sister thus a link was made, George was Harry’s brother-in-law. Whilst his World War I service papers do not exist, there were a couple of documents via Fold 3 showing he had served in Syria, the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of WWI and had contracted Malaria whilst there. Hence it was clear the artefacts were in fact his, possibly taken from a dead Turkish soldier during the campaign.
LENTON - Ancestry.UK once again proving invaluable as Joseph William Lenton’s World War I service papers were available. It was also discovered that Joseph had married Edith, ‘Harry’ Cotton’s youngest sister and so Joseph was Brother-in-Law to both ‘Harry’ Cotton and ‘George’ Pitman
Following Harry’s death probate had been granted to Minnie, his sister, thus she would have inherited his and George’s medals. Minnie seemingly passed them to her sister Ethel Lenton after her death, who in turn handed them and Joseph’s medals (the three groups to Cotton, Pitman and Lenton) to her daughter Hilda the grandmother of the friend who had parted with them. Thus, not only was the family relationship established but also how the medals had all come to be together and passed down the family line.
PRATT - This proved a little harder as no service records existed. However, the Medal Index Roll was very useful as it gave the full and unusual name of William Llewellyn Pratt. Research was subsequently confused as there appeared to be two people with the same name, this William born in 1886, the other in 1917. It was later established that William’s brother Daniel had named his son with the same name.
Once established, it was found that William had married an Eva Wilkins, further digging confirmed one of Eva’s brothers was Bernard who had married and had a son, Brian who had married Hilda Lenton, Joseph’s daughter. Therefore, the Pratt medal seems to have been passed from Eva to Bernard then to their child who was married to the Lenton’s daughter Edith, who now possessed all four groups of medals passing them on down the family. Sadly it appears that the Victory Medal was separated and passed to another relative.
A superb result in not only establishing the relationship between the vendor and the four medal recipients, but also confirming they are all related albeit distantly in some cases and by marriage. A great story and these four groups of medals will be kept together for posterity.
These were followed a week later from the same friend, by three seemingly random sets of other medals, a World War I pair and Imperial Service Medal to Robert George Pitman, Royal Engineers, Single 1914-18 British War Medal (Victory sadly missing) to W L Pratt of the Leicestershire Regiment and a World War I pair to
W L Lenton, Royal Engineers and some middle eastern type artefacts. The vendor had no idea who they belonged to or what, if any relationship they were to him apart from Lenton who he said was his grandfather.
So, the research on all four groups began in earnest, beginning with Cotton. When checked closely it was found that the WWI and ISM were named correctly to the recipient, James Henry Cotton, Royal Engineers and service number 47529, whereas the Queens Sudan was named to A Cotton and the Khedive’s Sudan to H Cotton, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and number 4745.
Initially it was feared the medals may have belonged to one of James’ brothers as he had one named Arthur and another Herbert. However, the original uniform medal ribbon bar with the group, minus the ISM ribbon, indicated they were mounted as worn by one person, additionally both brothers would have been too young to see active service in the Sudan.
Lengthy research took place on Ancestry.UK revealing the various medal rolls and some surviving, partially burnt World War I records. All proving invaluable in helping to piece a biography together and confirming the medals did indeed all belong to James Henry. Firstly, the handwritten rolls for the Sudan medals do say A Cotton, but it is easy to see how A could have been mistaken for H and vice versa. Secondly the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medal roll show his initial as H, this being crossed out and J H adding. Thirdly the census of 1881 show James listed as Henry. Fourthly his surviving records showed he has served in the Royal Warwicks and awarded both Sudan medals with two clasps. Finally and most importantly his World War 1 pension card, showed his full name and both service numbers, thus confirming they were indeed all James’ medals.
Contact was made via ancestry.UK with the Granddaughter of George Cotton (James’ brother) who as well as confirming James was known by everyone as ‘Harry’, thus solving the early medal naming query, also provided more biographical detail and a rather poor quality, but nonetheless important, photograph of Harry, allowing his face to be put to his medals after so many years apart.
Once this was confirmed all the relevant information was pieced together and a comprehensive biography completed. An extremely pleasing group and so good to have the medal that has for so many years been of interest. Research then began on the remaining three groups, beginning with Pitman.
PITMAN - Ancestry.UK quickly revealed that ‘George’ as he was known, had married Minnie Cotton, Harry’s sister thus a link was made, George was Harry’s brother-in-law. Whilst his World War I service papers do not exist, there were a couple of documents via Fold 3 showing he had served in Syria, the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of WWI and had contracted Malaria whilst there. Hence it was clear the artefacts were in fact his, possibly taken from a dead Turkish soldier during the campaign.
LENTON - Ancestry.UK once again proving invaluable as Joseph William Lenton’s World War I service papers were available. It was also discovered that Joseph had married Edith, ‘Harry’ Cotton’s youngest sister and so Joseph was Brother-in-Law to both ‘Harry’ Cotton and ‘George’ Pitman
Following Harry’s death probate had been granted to Minnie, his sister, thus she would have inherited his and George’s medals. Minnie seemingly passed them to her sister Ethel Lenton after her death, who in turn handed them and Joseph’s medals (the three groups to Cotton, Pitman and Lenton) to her daughter Hilda the grandmother of the friend who had parted with them. Thus, not only was the family relationship established but also how the medals had all come to be together and passed down the family line.
PRATT - This proved a little harder as no service records existed. However, the Medal Index Roll was very useful as it gave the full and unusual name of William Llewellyn Pratt. Research was subsequently confused as there appeared to be two people with the same name, this William born in 1886, the other in 1917. It was later established that William’s brother Daniel had named his son with the same name.
Once established, it was found that William had married an Eva Wilkins, further digging confirmed one of Eva’s brothers was Bernard who had married and had a son, Brian who had married Hilda Lenton, Joseph’s daughter. Therefore, the Pratt medal seems to have been passed from Eva to Bernard then to their child who was married to the Lenton’s daughter Edith, who now possessed all four groups of medals passing them on down the family. Sadly it appears that the Victory Medal was separated and passed to another relative.
A superb result in not only establishing the relationship between the vendor and the four medal recipients, but also confirming they are all related albeit distantly in some cases and by marriage. A great story and these four groups of medals will be kept together for posterity.
Medal Details:
- Queens Sudan Medal: 4745 PTE. A.COTTON. 1/R.WAR.R.
- 1914-15 Star: 47529 PNR. J.H.COTTON R.E.
- 1914-18 British War Medal: 47529 SPR. J.H.COTTON. R.E.
- Victory Medal: 47529 SPR. J.H.COTTON. R.E.
- Imperial Service Medal: JAMES HENRY COTTON
- Khedives Sudan Medal: No 4745 PTE.H.COTTON 1st ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGT.
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