Cosmo Bonsor
{{Short description|British politician (1848–1929)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Cosmo Bonsor
| image = Henry Cosmo Orme Bonsor.png
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1848|09|02|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Polesden Lacey, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1929|12|04|1848|09|02|df=yes}}
| death_place = Nice, France
| occupation = Brewer, businessman, politician
| education = Eton College
| spouse = {{Plainlist|
- {{Marriage|Emily Gertrude Fellowes|1872|18 July 1882|end=d.}}
- {{Marriage|Mabel Grace Brand|3 March 1886}}
}}
| party = Conservative
| office = House of Commons
| termstart = 1885
| termend = 1900
| office1 = Chairman of the South Eastern Railway
| termstart1 = 1897
| termend1 = 1928
}}
Sir Henry Cosmo Orme Bonsor, 1st Baronet, DL (2 September 1848 – 4 December 1929) was an English brewer and businessman and a Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1900.
Biography
Bonsor was born in Polesden Lacey on 2 September 1848, the son of Joseph Bonsor.{{Cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI81AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA261&ci=54%2C591%2C433%2C181 |title=Our New President |journal=Guy's Hospital Gazette |volume=XXIV |number=575 |date=1910-07-09 |access-date=2023-10-04 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2VHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA159&ci=29%2C1169%2C393%2C187 |title=Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-Armour |editor-first=Arthur Charles |editor-last=Fox-Davies |editor-link=Arthur Charles Fox-Davies |publisher=T. C. & E. C. Jack |place=London |page=159 |date=1910 |access-date=2023-10-04 |via=Google Books}} He was educated at Eton and with his father and brother became a partner in the brewing firm of Combe & Co. He was a director of the Bank of England, and a Governor of Guy's Hospital.[https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1886londuoft Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886]
Bonsor married Emily Gertrude Fellowes in 1872. She died in London on 18 July 1882, and he remarried to Mabel Grace Brand on 3 March 1886.{{Cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000408/18820727/133/0020 |title=Deaths |newspaper=Dorset County Chronicle |page=20 |date=1882-07-27 |access-date=2023-10-04 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000334/18860306/023/0005 |title=Marriage of Mr. Cosmo Bonsor M.P. and Miss Brand |newspaper=Surrey Mirror |page=5 |date=1886-03-06 |access-date=2023-10-04 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}}
In 1885 Bonsor was elected M.P. for Wimbledon and held the seat until 1900.{{hansard-contribs | mr-henry-bonsor | Henry Bonsor }} Also in 1885, Bonsor purchased the estate of Kingswood Warren, Surrey from Sir John Cradock Hartopp and lived there until 1906 when he put it on the market because of the rising cost of maintenance.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/about/history/previousowners.shtml |title=Article on BBC history |access-date=5 March 2008 |archive-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111112428/http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/about/history/previousowners.shtml |url-status=dead }}
In 1898 Bonsor organised the brewery amalgamation to form Watney Combe & Reid, of which he remained chairman until 1928.
File:Mabel Grace Brand (1864–1944) and Henry Cosmo Orme Bonsor (1848–1929).png
Bonsor was created a baronet on 26 January 1925.{{Rayment-bt|date=March 2012}}{{London Gazette |issue=33015 |date=27 January 1925 |page=590}} He died four years later at the age of 81 in Nice. He was buried in St Andrew's churchyard. Bonsor was a public benefactor and was loved locally for his kindness and generosity to all. His son Reginald succeeded to the baronetcy.
Railway service
In 1895 Bonsor was appointed deputy-chairman of the South Eastern Railway (SER), and was elected chairman of that railway following the death of the incumbent, Sir George Russell, Bart, on 7 March 1898. At the start of 1899 the SER entered into a working union with its neighbour and hitherto competitor, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). Each of the two railways provided four members of the new South Eastern & Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee, and Bonsor was elected Chairman of that body, retaining his SER post. He retired from railway service upon the formation (by amalgamation of the SER, LCDR and other railways) of the Southern Railway at the start of 1923.{{cite book |last1=Dendy Marshall |first1=C.F. |last2=Kidner |first2=Roger W. |author-link2=Roger Kidner |title=History of the Southern Railway |edition=2nd |year=1963 |orig-year=1937 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton |isbn=0-7110-0059-X |pages=314, 355, 393, 488, 490 }} In 1899 he formed a private syndicate to extend the Tattenham Corner Line from Kingswood railway station to Tattenham Corner railway station to take the racegoing traffic to Epsom Downs Racecourse.{{cn|date=March 2022}} A train named in his honour formerly ran as part of the Southern services to London Bridge. The train stock was of Class 456.[http://www.the-siding.co.uk/class456/pages/456024.htm 456024 "Sir Cosmo Bonsor"]
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Wimbledon| years = 1885–1900}}
{{s-aft| after = Charles Eric Hambro }}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new | creation}}
{{s-ttl | title=Baronet
(of Kingswood) | years=1925–1929 }}
{{s-aft | after=Reginald Bonsor }}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonsor, Cosmo}}
Category:British businesspeople
Category:People educated at Eton College
Category:Masters of the Worshipful Company of Brewers
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies