Harry Evan Auguste Cotton (27 May 1868 – 7 March 1939), better known as Evan Cotton or H. E. A. Cotton, was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, administrator, journalist, historian and writer.Ray, Nisith Ranjan Ray, Editor's Note in the book ''Calcutta Old and New'', 1909/1980, pp. 1–4, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

Formative years

The son of Henry Cotton, who presided over the 1904 session of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, and the Irish-born Mary Ryan, he was born at

Midnapore Medinipur or Midnapore is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as ''Kasai'' and ''Cossye''). ...

, where his father was then posted. He had his early schooling at Mount Liban School, Pau and then at

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

. He held an open scholarship at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

, where he obtained a second class in Classics Honour Mods, followed by second class degrees in history and jurisprudence. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

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

Professional life

Cotton practised at

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located at Esplanade Row West, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. T ...

from 1893 to 1908. He served as a member of

Calcutta Municipal Corporation Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is the local government of the Indian city of Kolkata, the List of Indian state and union territory capitals, state capital of West Bengal. This civic administrative body administers an area of . Its motto, ' ...

. He covered the

Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by Britain at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was he ...

of 1903 as a correspondent of the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. He subsequently served as the Kolkata correspondent of the '' Daily News''. He undertook the editorship of ''India'', the weekly organ of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. He served as President of the Bengal Legislative Council from 1922 to 1925. He was an active member of the Indian Historical Records Commission and was chairman from 1923 to 1925.

Politics

Evan returned to England in 1906 and joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. His father was himself a Liberal MP who sat for Nottingham East from 1906 to 1910. In January 1910, Evan contested the General Election at the Conservative seat of Dulwich; In March 1910 he was elected as a Progressive Councillor to the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

representing Finsbury East; The Progressives were the local government arm of the Liberal Party. In March 1913 he was re-elected to the LCC; In July 1918, when a vacancy occurred due to the death of a Liberal MP, for the parliamentary seat of Finsbury East. Cotton was an obvious candidate to defend the seat for the Liberal Party. Due to the wartime electoral truce, he did not face an official Unionist Party opponent and was comfortably elected; Following boundary changes, Evan's Finsbury East seat was merged with the Unionist seat of Finsbury Central to form a new Finsbury constituency. The Coalition Government chose to publicly endorse the Unionist candidate who was the sitting MP for the old Central seat. This endorsement made Evan's prospects difficult and after only 5 months as an MP he was defeated; In 1919 he did not defend his Finsbury East seat on the London County Council as after the election he was appointed as an Alderman.

Estimate of the person

In all his activities, his primary concern was for India, a country served by four generations in the family. He provided strong support to the

Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more concisely the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, the Sec ...

and served on an advisory committee at the India Office in connection with the 1919 Act. He was pivot of a small group that supported reforms. However, the changing political environment dampened his spirits. He later became a severe critic of the constitutional changes that led to the

Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences, organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in De ...

.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 8 March 1939, p. 18

Marriage

In 1896, he married Nora, daughter of William H. Grimley of Bengal ICS. They had a daughter.

Works

''Calcutta: Old and New'', ''The Century in India 1800–1900'', ''Hartly House, Calcutta'', ''Murray's Handbook of India, Burma and Ceylon'' (13th and 14th editions)

References

Sources

*''Who's Who of British members of parliament, Volume II 1886–1918'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press: 1978) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Harry Evan Auguste 1868 births 1939 deaths People educated at Sherborne School Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford British barristers Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian National Congress Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Kolkata UK MPs 1910–1918 Members of London County Council Progressive Party (London) politicians People from Paschim Medinipur district Nathaniel Cotton family British people in colonial India