Sir Richard Cotterell, 5th Baronet

Lt-Col Sir Richard Charles Geers Cotterell, 5th Baronet (1 June 1907 – 5 December 1978), was a British soldier.

Early life Cotterell was born on 1 June 1907. He was the only son of Sir John Cotterell, 4th Baronet and Lady Evelyn Amy Gordon-Lennox. His three older sisters were Sylvia Evelyn Cotterell (wife of Capt. Christopher Digby Leyland and she married Roland Norris Fawcett),

His paternal grandparents were Sir Geers Cotterell, 3rd Baronet (MP for Herefordshire) and Hon. Katherine Margaret Airey (a daughter of Richard Airey, 1st Baron Airey). His mother was the eldest daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond and, his first wife, the former Amy Mary Ricardo.

He was educated at Eton before attending Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served as a Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire in 1938. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire between 1945 and 1957. He also served as a Forestry Commissioner between 1945 and 1964. Before their divorce in 1958, they were the parents of:

Rose Evelyn Cotterell (1932–2006), who married Charles Hambro, Baron Hambro, heir to the Hambros Bank fortune. Anne Lettice Cotterell (b. 1933), who married Charles St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair, in 1968. Thomas Richard Geers Cotterell (1939–2019) She was daughter of William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, who owned The Daily Telegraph newspaper, and Mary Agnes Corns (a daughter of Thomas Corns). Molly was widow of Roger Charles George Chetwode (a son of Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode), with whom she had two children, including Philip Chetwode, 2nd Baron Chetwode. After the death of her first husband she married Hugh Seely, 1st Baron Sherwood (a son of Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet), whom she divorced in 1948.

Portrait In 1931, Sir John and his wife Lady Lettice had their portraits painted by Philip de László. In his portrait, he is pictured "Half-length slightly to the left, full face to the viewer, wearing the ceremonial uniform of the Royal Horse Guards, holding his red-plumed helmet in his right hand". László had previously done a number of portraits for his family, including of his mother in 1913, sister Sylvia in 1924, and later, his father in 1934.