Inns of Court Regiment called to fight in the wars of King John or against Robert the Bruce. One such defence of Medieval London was organised in 1381 against Wat Tyler, during the Peasants' Revolt (when the Chief Justice was killed). In 1467, the Chief Justice of the Exchequer, then Recorder of the city of London, was instrumental in defeating a Lancastrian attack on the city of London. Further accounts, such as Henry Machyn's diary (1554), tell of more localised defences when "On the xij day of Juin was a gret fray be-twyn the Lord Warden's servants of Kent and the Ines of Greys
William Cotton (Lord Mayor) Sheriff of London and Middlesex from 1868 to 1869, and Lord Mayor of London from 1875 to 1876, during which years he opened the new poultry and provisions market at Smithfield and presided over a grand banquet welcoming the Prince of Wales on his return from a tour of India. In 1868 he had stood for parliament unsuccessfully at Southwark. At the 1874 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for City of London. He lost his seat in parliament in the 1885 UK general election after representation was reduced from four to two under the Redistribution of Seats