Handel Cossham (31 March 1824 – 23 April 1890) was a British colliery owner, lay preacher and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician who was active in local government and sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1885 to 1890.

Early life

Cossham was born in High Street, Thornbury, in a house where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were also born. His father Jesse Cossham, a carpenter and builder, named his son after the composer of ''Messiah'',

George Frederic Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

. A plaque at his birthplace describes him as a "non-conformist Preacher, Industrialist, Geologist, Politician, Educationalist and Public Benefactor".

Career

Cossham began his involvement in the coal industry in 1845 at

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, Somerset, Bath, with regular rail services ...

colliery. In 1848 he married Elizabeth Wethered and through a partnership with her family, began Parkfield Colliery at Pucklechurch in 1851. As a caring employer, Cossham also built houses and a school for his colliery workers at Parkfield. The partnership opened several other coal pits, initially under the name of Cossham and Wethered Ltd and from 1867, the Kingswood Coal and Iron Company Ltd. The business came under control of Handel Cossham and Charles S. Wills after 1879 when the Kingswood and Parkfield Colliery Company Ltd was formed. In 1862, Handel Cossham built the British School in Thornbury, which remains today. The Cossham Hall, which was built as a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

chapel, was purchased and donated to Thornbury by Cossham in 1888.

Political life

Cossham represented St. Paul's ward on Bristol City Council as a

during the 1860s. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in 1866, at

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

in 1868 and at Chippenham in 1874. He was Mayor of Bath from 1882 to 1885.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
/ref> At the 1885 general election he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for the newly created

Bristol East Bristol East is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency recreated in 1983 covering the eastern part of the City of Bristol, represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of ...

and retained the seat in 1886.

Death

In April 1890, whilst in the library of the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

, Cossham was taken ill and died the following day aged 66. An estimated 50,000 people lined the streets on the day of his funeral. His estate amounted to £59,127. In 1900, his collieries were sold at auction for £61,000. The

Cossham Memorial Hospital Cossham Memorial Hospital is a community hospital, founded in 1907, in Hillfields, Bristol, near Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England. History The hospital was built by Frederick Bligh Bond in a Queen Anne style between 1905 and 1907, as a ...

in Kingswood,

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

is a memorial to Handel Cossham, who instructed in his will that his estate be used for the building of a hospital.

Personal papers

Records relating to Handel Cossham's collieries and estates are held at

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

(Ref. 9492).online catalogue
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cossham, Handel Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 1824 births 1890 deaths UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 Bristol Coalfield People from Thornbury, Gloucestershire Mayors of Bath, Somerset