Robert Cottrell

Robert Cottrell (15 September 1815 – 3 November 1880) was a coachbuilder and politician in the colony of South Australia. His first sojourn in Australia was in Maitland, New South Wales and his last near Maitland, South Australia.
History.
Cottrell emigrated to New South Wales, arriving in Sydney on the ship "Orient" in February 1839. He ran a coachbuilding business in Maitland, New South Wales from 1843 to 1845. Cottrell married Abina Ledsam; their two elder sons were born in Maitland, where various members of the Ledsam family had settled from the early 1830s including poundkeeper John Ledsam and auctioneer Jeremiah Ledsam, with whom he was closely associated.
Cottrell, his wife and four children moved to Adelaide by the brig "Phantom", accompanied by brother-in-law John Ledsam (1785–1856), in June 1847. In 1848 he opened a coachbuilding business in Rundle Street, which prospered, enabling him to move several times, finally to Grenfell Street.
He was member for East Adelaide in the South Australian House of Assembly April 1868 – February 1875, and was an advocate of protection. In 1875, he stood again for East Adelaide, but was defeated by William Kay.
He purchased a farm "Brook Cottage", Woodforde, near
Magill around 1865, where they lived, and later moved to a much larger property at Urania, some from Maitland, South Australia.
He had been an invalid for some time, and died of bronchitis.
G. T. Cottrell.
His eldest son George Thomas Cottrell joined the second ("relief") party of B. T. Finniss's surveying expedition to Adam Bay in the Northern Territory as a labourer, leaving Port Adelaide on 29 October 1864.
He brought with him six rabbits, a gift of land agent Samuel Pearce, later his father-in-law, but there is no record of their being released, and they certainly failed to "be fruitful and multiply".
Although his contract would not expire until October 1865, he was one of those who on 6 May 1865 left Escape Cliffs on the ship "Bengal" for Surabaya, and with J. R. (T. R. ?) Atkinson travelled on to Singapore, while the rest transshipped via "Douglas" to Melbourne, and thence to Adelaide. 
While in Singapore he found a shipmaster's wallet, and was able to return it to its owner, who treated him to a passage to Hong Kong. There he was introduced to the Governor, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, who found an appointment for him with the Customs Department in Canton. Two years later he returned to Adelaide, married, and had a successful career as an accountant.
Family.
Robert Cottrell married Abina Ledsam (c.1813 – 30 May 1890) around 1838. Among their children were:
Both G. T. Cottrell and T. L. Cottrell were born in Maitland, New South Wales.