# Handel Cossham

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**Handel Cossham** (31 March 1824 – 23 April 1890)[1] was a British colliery owner, lay preacher and [Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)) politician who was active in local government and sat in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) from 1885 to 1890.[2]

## Early life

Cossham was born in High Street, [Thornbury](/source/Thornbury,_South_Gloucestershire), in a house where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were also born.[3] His father Jesse Cossham, a carpenter and builder, named his son after the composer of *Messiah*, [George Frederic Handel](/source/George_Frederic_Handel). 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](/source/Yate) colliery.[4] In 1848 he married Elizabeth Wethered and through a partnership with her family, began [Parkfield Colliery](/source/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](/source/Methodism) 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 [Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)) during the 1860s. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at [Nottingham](/source/Nottingham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in 1866, at [Dewsbury](/source/Dewsbury_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in 1868 and at Chippenham in 1874. He was [Mayor of Bath](/source/Mayor_of_Bath) from 1882 to 1885.[5] At the [1885 general election](/source/1885_United_Kingdom_general_election) he was elected [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP) for the newly created [Bristol East](/source/Bristol_East_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) and retained the seat in 1886.[6]

## Death

In April 1890, whilst in the library of the [Houses of Parliament](/source/Palace_of_Westminster), 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](/source/Cossham_Memorial_Hospital) in [Kingswood](/source/Kingswood,_South_Gloucestershire), [Bristol](/source/Bristol) 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](/source/Bristol_Archives) (Ref. 9492).[7]

## References

1. ["Local businessman and MP for East Bristol: Handel Cossham"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/07/17/cosham_feature.shtml). *BBC: Bristol*. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2025.

1. Stratford, Joseph (1890). [*Handel Cossham, M.P.: brief outlines of a full life*](https://archive.org/details/stratford-handel-cossham). Bath: William Lewis & Son.

1. Stratford (1890). ["Early Life"](https://archive.org/details/stratford-handel-cossham/page/6/mode/2up). *Handel Cossham, M.P.: brief outlines of a full life*. pp. 6–15.

1. ["Local businessman and MP for East Bristol"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/07/17/cosham_feature.shtml). BBC. Retrieved 29 October 2015.

1. [Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886](https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1886londuoft#page/34/mode/2up)

1. ["Mr Handel Cossham"](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-handel-cossham/index.html). *[Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)](/source/Hansard)*. Retrieved 29 October 2015.

1. [online catalogue](http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=9492&pos=1)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Handel Cossham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handel_Cossham) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handel_Cossham?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.