Richard Lynch Cotton (14 August 1794 – 8 December 1880) was a British vicar and academic administrator at the University of Oxford. Cotton was born in Whitchurch, Oxfordshire, the son of Henry Calveley Cotton and Matilda Lockwood, one of 11 children (eight sons and three daughters).He was educated at Charterhouse School and Worcester College, Oxford, where he attained a BA degree in 1815. He was a Fellow of the College from 1816 to 1838 and Provost from 1839 to 1880. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity in 1839.While Provost at Worcester, Cotton also became Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in 1852.