Francis Cotton (5 May 1857 – 28 November 1942) was an Australian politician.
Born inAdelaide,Colony of South Australia, to grocer Richard Cotton and Esther Ann Payne. He was educated privately and worked on a cattle station inPort Lincoln before arriving in theColony of New South Wales in 1875. He married Evangeline Mary Geake Lake on 1 January 1883 atForbes; they had six children. After working as a shearer, farmer and drover, he moved toSydney to become a journalist in 1889 and was editor of theDemocrat, asingle tax paper, in 1891; he had founded the Forbes tax reform group in 1887 and joined theSingle Tax League in 1889. In 1890 he representedWagga Wagga on the Trades and Labor Council, and in 1891 he was elected to theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly as theLabor member forNewtown, serving until 1894.
On 8 June 1891, he supported the formation of theWomanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales, saying that "equality was the soul of equity."[1] In April 1892 he chaired a debate betweenEliza Ashton andRose Scott on Ashton's controversial views on marriage laws.[2]
From 1895 to 1901 he was member forNewtown-Camperdown, this time for theFree Trade Party. Cotton died in Sydney in 1942.[3]
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forNewtown 1891–1894 Served alongside:Joseph Abbott,John Hindle,Edmund Molesworth | Abolished |
| Preceded by | Member forNewtown-Camperdown 1895–1901 | Succeeded by |
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