Nicholas Cottam
Born17 February 1951
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1973-2008
RankMajor-General
Commands held5th Infantry Division
Battles/warsOperation Banner
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Major-General Nicholas Jeremy Cottam CB OBE (born 17 February 1951) was a senior British Army officer who went on to be Military Secretary and thereafter Registrar of St Paul's Cathedral.

Early life

Cottam is the son of Brigadier Donald Cottam OBE.[1] He was educated at Durham University, where he gained a degree in Modern History.[2] Cottam was President of the Durham Union for Easter term of 1972.[3]

Military career

Cottam was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets in 1973.[4] He became Commanding Officer of his Regiment and was deployed in Northern Ireland in the early 1990s being appointed to the OBE[5] and mentioned in despatches for his service there.[6] In 1994 he went to South Africa as part of a Commonwealth Peace Keeping Force.[7]

He became Director of Personnel Services in 2001 for the Army[8] and went on to be General Officer Commanding 5th Infantry Division in 2003[9] and Military Secretary in 2005.[9] In that role he increased the retirement age for officers in the Territorial Army to 60[10] and carried out a review of the Reserves recommending that they be used for augmentation as much as for maximum effort.[11]

Cathedral Registrar

In 2008, after retirement from the Army, Cottam became Registrar of St Paul's Cathedral.[12] In this position he returned to global prominence during the 2011-2012 Occupy London protests outside the cathedral buildings. He led the public response of the cathedral community to the protests, and made public statements on the resignations of three members of the cathedral's clergy[13] including the Revd Canon Dr Giles Fraser; Cottam was reported to have been angered by Fraser's decision not to support agreed policy and to resign his position.[14] Cottam retired in September 2015.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Cottam, Maj.-Gen. Nicholas Jeremy, (born 17 Feb. 1951). UK Who's Who. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U42551. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "XX (ns), supplement". Durham University Gazette. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  3. ↑ "Letters". Palatinate. No. 263. 21 June 1972. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "No. 46125". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 November 1973. p. 13473.
  5. ↑ "No. 52137". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 May 1990. p. 9153.
  6. ↑ "No. 53453". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 October 1993. p. 16388.
  7. ↑ Reports of the African National Congress 11 February 1994
  8. ↑ Families lobby for Deepcut inquiry BBC News, 29 October 2002
  9. 1 2 "Maj-Gen N J Cottam, CB, OBE Authorised Biography - Debrett's People of Today". debretts.com. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Dad's Army fills officer shortage The Times, 9 October 2005
  11. ↑ Reserves Review TA Quarterly, April 2009
  12. ↑ Appointments Church Times, 14 November 2008
  13. ↑ "Dean of St Paul's Cathedral resigns with 'great sadness'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  14. ↑ "The struggle for St Paul's". The Daily Telegraph. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "Nicholas Cottam, Registrar of St Paul's Cathedral, to retire". stpauls.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
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