Sir Robert Cotton was an English politician. He sat as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 from 1679 to 1701 and briefly in 1702.

Life

He was the third son of Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet

Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet

Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet, of Connington was an English politician and heir to the Cottonian Library.-Life:He was the only surviving child of Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington and Elizabeth Brocas. He graduated B.A. at Broadgates Hall, Oxford in 1616...

, the second by Sir Thomas's second wife Alice. He was granted the manor of Hatley

Hatley, Cambridgeshire

Hatley is a civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies between the villages of Gamlingay and Croydon, 12 miles south-west of the city of Cambridge and eight miles south-east of the town of St Neots...

, Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

 by his half-brother in 1662, the year of his father's death. A Tory, he was one of the joint holders of the Postmaster General position from 1691.