Handel Cossham was a British colliery owner, lay preacher and Liberal politician who was active in local government and sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1890.
Background
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.
Career
A plaque at his birthplace describes him as a "non-conformist Preacher, Industrialist, Geologist, Politician, Educationalist and Public Benefactor". Cossham began his involvement in the coal industry in 1845 at Yate colliery. As a caring employer, Cossham also built houses and a school for his colliery workers at Parkfield.
In 1862, Handel Cossham built the British School in Thornbury, which remains today.
The Cossham Hall, which was built as a Wesleyan chapel, was purchased and donated to Thornbury by Cossham in 1888. Cossham represented Saint Paul"s ward on Bristol City Council as a Liberal during the 1860s.
He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at Nottingham in 1866, at Dewsbury in 1868 and at Chippenham in 1874. He was Mayor of Bath from 1882 to 1885.
In 1890, whilst in the library of the Houses of Parliament, Cossham was taken ill and died the following day aged 66.
An estimated 30,000 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 in Kingswood, Bristol is a memorial to Handel Cossham, who instructed in his will that his estate be used for the building of a hospital.
Membership
23rd United Kingdom Parliament. 24th United Kingdom Parliament]
At the 1885 general election he was elected Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for the newly created Bristol East and retained the seat in 1886.