Sir Clement Cottrell-Dormer (1686–1758) was an English courtier and antiquary.

Biography

Cottrell was born in Westminster, Middlesex, England on 2 April 1686. He was the son of Sir

Charles Lodowick Cotterell Sir Charles Lodowick Cotterell (10 August 1654 – 9 July 1710), was an English courtier. Biography Cotterell, the eldest son of Sir Charles Cotterell, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took the degree of LL.D.; was incorporated ...

(1654–1710), and his first wife Eliza, daughter of Nicholas Burwell of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. On his father's death Cottrell became Master of the Ceremonies. The office of Master of the Ceremonies at the British court had been established by

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until h ...

in 1603. The Master's duties were to receive foreign dignitaries and present them to the monarch at court. Sir Clement held that office from 1710 until 1758, during the reigns of Queen Anne, King George I and King George II. He was also vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1734 he was described by Hearne as "a scholar and an antiquary, and well skill'd in matters of proceeding and ceremony". On the death of his cousin, General James Dormer in 1741, Cottrell inherited the Rousham estates and assumed the additional surname of Dormer by a private Act of Parliament. Cottrell died in Rousham, Oxfordshire, England on 13 October 1758.

Family

Cottrell married Bridget Sherborne (1696–1731)—only daughter and heir of Davenant and Mary Sherborne of Pembridge, Herefordshire—on 14 April 1716. They had two sons and five daughters who reached maturity: *Charles (1720–1779), who followed in the family footsteps and became master of the ceremonies. *Robert (died 1744), became a marine, perished at sea, and predeceased his father. *Mary (died 1753), predeceased her father. *Bridget (1719–1801), their second daughter became a maid of honour to

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of Ki ...

. Sir Clement's son, Sir Charles Cottrell-Dormer, who died in 1779, and grandson, Sir Clement Cottrell-Dormer, who died in 1808, each became Master of the Ceremonies. In 1900 the family was represented by C. Cottrell Dormer, and in his library contained a valuable collection of letters and papers relating to Sir Charles Cotterell, Sir Charles Lodowick, and Sir Clement Cotterell. cites ''Hist. MSS. Comm.'' 2nd Rep. 82–3.

Notes

References

* Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cottrell, Clement English courtiers 1686 births 1758 deaths Cotterell family Court of Anne, Queen of Great Britain Court of George I of Great Britain Court of George II of Great Britain