Sir Merton Russell-Cotes FRGS (Wolverhampton 8 May 1835 – 27 January 1921 Bournemouth) was Mayor of Bournemouth, England, 1894–95. During his Mayoralty, Meyrick Park, two free libraries, and the first two schools of art in the borough were opened. Although his name is usually hyphenated today, there is no hyphen in his Who's Who entry or the London Gazette entry for his knighthood, and he is described on the plaque marking the opening of the Undercliff Drive and Promenade as Cllr. Cotes, not Cllr. Russell-Cotes.