John Cottier (registered as Edwin Russell) was the son of James Edwin and Ermina Cottier (nee Holt), of Cotter and Bond, wholesale merchants. During World War I he left Sydney with the AIF and flew with the Royal Flying Corp - a branch of the Royal Naval Air Service until 1927 No 18 Squadron became the Royal Air Force. Cottier later became involved with early aviation history of Australia and the establishment of air-mail and passenger services between Tasmania and the rest of Australia. He was a personal acquaintance of Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm and acted as an agent for the Australian National Airways in Hobart.