Person    | Male  Born 22/1/1571  Died 6/5/1631

Sir Robert Cotton

Antiquarian and politician. Born Robert Bruce Cotton in Denton, Huntingdonshire. He entered parliament in 1601, as the member for Newtown, Isle of Wight. His collection of manuscripts which became the Cottonian Library, was the basis of what became the British Library. It included many priceless items, among which were two original copies of the Magna Carta

From the British Library: Robert Cotton was a landowner, politician and scholar. He made his collection of books and manuscripts – including two original copies of Magna Carta – available for consultation. In 1629 the King {Charles I} ordered the closure of Cotton’s library, which was seen as a threat to royal power, and Cotton was briefly imprisoned. Cotton’s son and grandson expanded the collection, ultimately leaving it to Parliament to ‘be kept and preserved … for Publick Use and Advantage’. UNESCO added the Cotton manuscripts to its Memory of the World UK Register in 2018.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Robert Cotton

Commemorated ati

Sir Robert Cotton

This bust is a 20th-century replica after Louis-François Roubiliac, 1757.

Read More

Other Subjects

William Alfred Westropp Foyle

William Alfred Westropp Foyle

Founded Foyles Bookshop in 1903.  Born Shoreditch, the 7th child of a 7th child of a 7th child.  William and brother Gilbert opened their first bookshop in Islington, moved to Peckham and then Ceci...

Person, Commerce, Museums / Libraries

1 memorial
Andrew Gifford, DD

Andrew Gifford, DD

Non-conformist minister and numismatist. Born Bristol. Became Baptist minister at Little Wild Street (see Samuel Stennett) in 1730 but in 1735 he had to leave when accused by a member of the congre...

Person, Museums / Libraries, Religion

1 memorial
King Edward the Seventh's Galleries

King Edward the Seventh's Galleries

An extension to the British Museum by the architect Sir John James Burnett.

Building, Museums / Libraries

1 memorial
Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace

Originally erected in Hyde Park to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was on the section south of Rotten Row and east of West Carriage Drive with the mid-point opposite Rutland Gate.  The cast-...

Building, Architecture, Commerce, Museums / Libraries, Music / songs, TV & Radio

4 memorials
Armstrong Browning Library

Armstrong Browning Library

The library is located on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. It houses one of the largest collections of letters and manuscripts by Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whic...

Group, Museums / Libraries, USA

2 memorials

Previously viewed

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Prime Minister: 1979 - 1990. Born Grantham. MP for Finchley: 1959 - 1992. A Marmite politician of the highest order - her death was greeted with a rare mix of immoderate panegyrics and gleeful cele...

Person, Politics & Administration, Seriously Famous

5 memorials