Ralph Cotton, of Alkington

There was a Ralph Cotton of Alkington, who married Jane Smith of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire (daughter of one John Smith – unhelpfully) in the middle of the Sixteenth century. They had eleven children (Alan, Joan, Roger, Catherine, John, Ellen, unknown name, Margaret, Alice, William, and Eleanor), of whom the eldest was born in 1558, and became Sir Allan Cotton.

The (Almost) Complete Cotton Family Tree, Combermere Abbey