James Cotton J. S. Cotton J.S. Cotton : James Sutherland Cotton (1847-1918), younger brother of Sir Henry Cotton, born in India at Coonoor: educated at Magdalen College School, Brighton College, Winchester, & Trinity College, Oxford (Scholar) First Class in Moderations & Final Classical School, M.A.: Fellow & Lecturer at Queen’s College, Oxford: editor of Academy, & of the revised edition of the Imperial Gazetteer of India: author of India (Citizen Series), Mountstuart Elphinstone (“Rulers of India” Series), Decennial Report on the Moral & Material Progress of India 1885: Quinqennial Report on Education in India 1898. [Buckland; s/a St. Paul’s School, I.C.S., Baroda]
... tried to intercede on behalf of A. A. Ghose. The first was James Sutherland Cotton, brother of Sir Henry Cotton, who as we have seen had already helped to provide Benoybhusan with a job. J. S. Cotton was born in India at Coonoor, in the district of the Nilgiris of the Madras Presidency. In his letter dated November 19, 1892, J. S. Cotton writes 1 : ". . . My present object in addressing you is to... the three brothers. The other supportive Englishman was G. W. Prothero, then a Senior Tutor at Cambridge; he was a prominent historian, and was subsequently knighted. He dropped a letter to James Cotton the next day, that is 20 November 1892, which the latter forwarded to the Civil Service Commission. "... I am very sorry to hear what you tell me about Page 224 Ghose, that... a testimony coming from his College teacher, unsolicited as it was, highlights the character of Sri Aurobindo as a student, and bears out the Spartan life he led. Under moral pressure from J. S. Cotton and persuasion from his eldest brother, A. A. Ghose wrote on November 21 a letter to the Earl of Kimberley who was then the Secretary of Page 226 State for India, requesting him ...
... of Baroda He obtained, with the help of James Cotton, Sir Henry's son, an introduction to H.H. the late Sayaji Rao, Gaekwar of Baroda, during his visit to England. James Cotton was Sir Henry's brother not his son. Sir Henry Cotton was much connected with Maharshi Raj Narayan Bose—Aurobindo's maternal grandfather. His son James Cotton was at this time in London. As a result of these... about with the Gaekwar of Baroda. Page 33 Cotton was my father's friend—they had made arrangements for my posting in Bengal; but he had nothing to do with my meeting with the Gaekwar. James Cotton was well acquainted with my eldest brother, because C was secretary of the South Kensington Liberal Club where we were living and my brother was his assistant. He took great interest in us. It was... Jadhav in England. Not true. Sri Aurobindo became acquainted with Khaserao two or three years after his arrival in Baroda, through Khaserao's brother, Lieutenant Madhavrao Jadhav. [It was] 1 James Cotton, brother of Sir Henry (who was a friend of Dṛ K.D. Ghose) who introduced Sri Aurobindo to the Gaekwar. Cotton became secretary of the South Kensington Liberal Club where two of the brothers were ...
... about ten at that time". 5 After his brother's quarrel with Mrs. Drewett, Sri Aurobindo and his eldest brother, Benoy Bhusan, "occupied a room in the South Kensington Liberal Club where Mr. J.S. Cotton, brother of Sir Henry Cotton, for some time 5. Life of Sri Aurobindo by Purani. Page 7 Lt. Governor of Bengal, was the secretary, and Benoy assisted him in his work. Manmohan... atmosphere was not found congenial." The Gaekwar of the State of Baroda happened to be in England at that time. He was one of the most enlightened rulers of the Indian States of that period. James Cotton, brother of Sir Henry Cotton, who was well-acquainted with the Ghosh brothers, had been taking interest in them. He now negotiated with the Gaekwar in behalf of Sri Aurobindo. The result of the ...
... said she Page 27 would not live with an atheist as the house might fall down on her. Afterwards Benoybhusan and Aurobindo occupied a room in the South Kensington Liberal Club where Mr. J. S. Cotton, brother of Sir Henry Cotton, for some time Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, 1 was the secretary and Benoy assisted him in his work. Manmohan went into lodgings. This was the time of the greatest ...
... now virtually stranded: the father silent, no remittances, food scarce. In this crisis they were fortunate in finding a timely benefactor in James Cotton, brother of Sir Henry Cotton, who was a well-known figure in India and a friend of Dr. K.D. Ghose. James Cotton was then Secretary of the South Kensington Liberal Club which had its office at 128, Cromwell Road. The boys went and saw him and, realising ...
... heard what had happened, 'he set up a howl as if the heavens had fallen'. Sri Aurobindo himself was quite unperturbed. But it was not only Manmohan who was upset at what Sri Aurobindo had done. Both James Cotton and G.W. Prothero, the senior tutor at Cambridge who knew Sri Aurobindo well, thought that grave injustice had been done and decided to intercede with the Civil Service Commission, the final authority... these things. He said we could propose Rs.200/- per month but should accept even Rs.130/- which was then equivalent to El 0 and was quite a good sum. I left the negotiations to my eldest brother and James Cotton. I knew nothing about life at that time.' This is how Sri Aurobindo joined the Baroda State Service. The Gaekwad apparently was very pleased and went about telling people that he had got an ICS ...
... August." VIII and IX Letter dated 19 November 1892 (From Mr. James S. Cotton to Sir Arthur Macpherson. Secretary, Judicial and Public Dept. India Office.) Letter dated 20 November 1892 (From Mr. G. W. Prothero to Mr. J. S. Cotton; sent by Cotton to the C. S. Commissioners) When the rejection seemed final two Englishmen... Council ;................... Minute Mr Ghose has now appealed to the Secretary of State to give him another chance for passing his Riding Examination and Mr James Sutherland Cotton, to whom Mr Ghose refers, has written the annexed letter to Sir Arthur Macpherson. Poverty apparently has been a great misfortune to Mr Ghose. Unless the C. S. Commissioners certificate... cause. The reader will find the implacability of red-tape relieved by the gust of sympathy and warm-hearted support of these two gentlemen who represented the real culture of England. Mr. James S. Cotton of the South Kensington Liberal Club was one of the editors of the Academy . He was born in India, at Coonoor, and was a brother of Sir Henry Cotton, I.C.S.,' who took a prominent part in starting ...
... Apart from Manmohan's letters there is other evidence to throw light on the strained condition under which the three brothers had to carry on their studies in England. One is a letter written to James Cotton by G. W. Prothero, a tutor and senior Fellow of King's College, on hearing about Aurobindo's rejection from the I. C. S. on the ground of Aurobindo's non-appearance for the riding test. It is a... penurious in the extreme, is against this. ... I can fully believe that his inability to keep his appointment at Woolwich was due to the want of cash." ¹ In a letter to Sir Arthur Macpherson, James S. Cotton writes: "It happens that I have known Mr A. A. Ghose and his two brothers for the past five years, and that I have been a witness of the pitiable straits to which they have all three been reduced... The period at 128, Cromwell Road was perhaps the most trying of Aurobindo's stay in England. They were all so hard pressed that Benoybhushan had to agree to be an assistant to James S. Cotton, who was Secretary of the Club, for five shillings a week. Cotton's help to the three brothers in their difficulty is an unforgettable obligation. During this period Aurobindo used to get a slice ...
... quite willing to propose Rs. 200/- per month as a good sum. It would be more than £10/- and it is surprising that he thought it was very good! But I left the negotiations to my elder brother and James Cotton. I knew nothing about life at that time. Disciple : What were the expenses in those days? Sri Aurobindo : Before the war, it was quite decent living for £5/-. Our landlady was an ...
... for that was quite a good sum. He was calculating according to the pound which was equivalent to Rs 13; so he took ten pounds as a quite good sum. I left the negotiations to my eldest brother and James Cotton. The Gaekwar went about telling people that he had got a Civil Service man for Rs 200. (Laughter) But Cotton ought to have known better. NIRODBARAN: How much were your monthly expenses? ...
... had become more and more irregular and inadequate, and the boys were thus increasingly left to their own resources. Benoy Bhushan, the eldest, became an assistant on five shillings a week to James S. Cotton, who was Secretary on the South Kensington Liberal Club. Manomohan went up to Christ Church, Oxford, and was thriving as a scholar and as a poet. But financial worries were not soon to leave... examination in the first class even at the end of the second year of his residence in Cambridge. He also won the Rowley Prize for Greek iambics, and other prizes, in King's College. Writing of him to James Cotton, Sri Aurobindo's senior tutor G.W. Prothero said: His pecuniary circumstances prevented him from resigning [his scholarship (classical)] when he became a Selected Candidate [for the I.C.S... affair. The "rejection" came as a Page 36 disappointment, not only to Sri Aurobindo's brothers in England, but also to well-wishers like his tutor Mr. Prothero and his friend, Mr. James S. Cotton. The former wrote to Cotton a letter which he transmitted to the Civil Service Commissioners. After giving an enthusiastic account of Sri Aurobindo's character and abilities, Prothero added: ...
... the Government of India in 1896 and the Chief Commisioner of Assam which post he held from 1896 till his retirement in 1902. Upon Page 155 a friend of Dr. Ghose's. His brother, James S. Cotton lent a helping hand to the three foreign students. He was the Secretary to the South Kensington Liberal Club, and offered Benoybhusan the post of assistant, with a salary of five shillings a week ...
... must have come in useful for Aravinda. Grandmother Drewett had suddenly grown furious when Manmohan, weary of her bigotry, insulted Moses, and she had thrown the three brothers out of her house. James Cotton had become acquainted with them through his father in India, Sir Henry, who was a friend of their father. Cotton paid Benoybhusan five shillings a week to assist him in his job as Secretary of the... without a job. As luck would have it, the Maharajah of Baroda, Sayaji Rao III of the Gaekwad dynasty, was in London on a visit, the first of his many visits to Europe. With an introduction from James Cotton, A. A. Ghose applied for a job in the Maharajah’s administration. The prince soon understood that he could acquire for a song the services of a highly qualified functionary, an I.C.S. man in fact ...
... himself, "felt no call for the I.C.S. and was seeking some way to escape from that bondage...he managed to get himself disqualified for riding without himself rejecting the Service." 12 A friend, James S. Cotton, now negotiated with the Maharaja of Baroda and secured for Sri Aurobindo a job at Rs 200 per month. This seemed to settle his future, and so he sailed by S.S.Carthage and arrived in India early ...
... this with you." (Laughter) "So, what did you do On your return to London?" asked Pooja. "Well, the three of us went to the brother of a friend of Page 56 Father's. His name was James Cotton and he was truly a gentleman. He was rather surprised to see us. We introduced ourselves and recounted to him our tale of woe. He listened to us very attentively, and seemed shocked and pained.... my English and Indian friends were very upset by my failure to join the I.C.S. When one of my tutors, Mr. Prothero, heard of the reason why I had been failed, he was very annoyed. Along with Mr. James Cotton, the gentleman who had given us shelter in London, he began a regular battle with the authorities. Mr. Prothero wrote them a long letter, which some of you must have read." I stood up and offered... month, that is, he thought £10 was a good enough sum, and the Gaekwar went about telling Page 76 people that he had got a civilian for Rs.200. It is surprising my eldest brother and James Cotton were quite satisfied with Rs. 200 per month. I had left the negotiation to them as I knew nothing about life at that time. "So there you are, I had been tricked! But neither Mr. Cotton nor any ...
... Fabian Society and was very moral."' Chapter IV "There are inaccuracies such as his statement that I was introduced to the Gaekwad by Henry Cotton. It was not Henry Cotton but his brother, James Cotton, who knew my brother (and was being helped by him in his work) who introduced me to the Gaekwad because he took interest in us." Chapter V and VI "About Swami Hamsa I don't remember his ...
... State for India. The holder of this cabinet-level post was John Wodehouse, the first Earl of Kimberley (1826 - 1902). It is probable that Sri Aurobindo wrote to Kimberley at the insistence of James S. Cotton, who at this time was trying to pull strings to get the rejection overturned (see A. B. Purani, The Life of Sri Aurobindo [1978], pp. 326 - 33). [2] 12 December 1892. Sri Aurobindo wrote this ...
... strain under which the three brothers had been labouring in England on account of the irregularity and subsequent stoppage of remittances from their father, he had taken a job as an assistant to James Cotton who was secretary of the South Kensington Liberal Club where the three brothers had been staying. Manmohan makes a rather amusingly sarcastic reference to his elder brother in one of his letters ...
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