Mary Cosh
{{Short description|British freelance journalist and historian (1919–2019)}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
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File:An historical walk through Clerkenwell by Mary Cosh cover.jpg
Ethel Eleanor Mary Cosh, FSA (3 March 1919 – 17 December 2019) was a British freelance journalist and local historian who was known for her works on the history of Islington, London. Her book, A History of Islington (2005), was the first full-length history of the area since the mid-nineteenth century. She also wrote two historical works relating to Scotland. Cosh died in December 2019 at the age of 100.[https://www.islingtonsociety.org.uk/news/mary-cosh/ Mary Cosh]
Early life
Mary Cosh was born in Bristol on 3 March 1919 to Arthur Strode (a director) and Ellen (Janisch) Cosh.{{Cite web|url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/BiographiesDetailsPage/BiographiesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Biographies&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CH1000020909&source=Bookmark&u=mlin_n_umass&jsid=da6be4afb2f9d1be39487c988793a0e5|title=Contemporary Authors Online|year=2002|website=Biography in Context|publisher=Gale|access-date=6 March 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Gruner|first1=Peter|title=As she prepares to celebrate her 95th birthday, fresh calls for Mary's history of Islington to have a future|url=http://www.islingtontribune.com/news/2014/feb/she-prepares-celebrate-her-95th-birthday-fresh-calls-mary%E2%80%99s-history-islington-have-fut|accessdate=8 March 2016|work=Islington Tribune|date=14 February 2014}} She was educated at Clifton High School.[http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/18278/%28Ethel-Eleanor%29-Mary-COSH (Ethel Eleanor) Mary COSH.] Debrett's. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
Career
Cosh worked with the Ministry of Labour from 1937 to 1942. During the Second World War she served with the Women's Royal Naval Service from 1942 to 1945 where she became a Leading Wren. After the war she read English at St Anne's College, University of Oxford, graduating with a BA in 1949.[http://www.islingtonsociety.org.uk/people/mary-cosh/ Mary Cosh.] The Islington Society. Retrieved 1 March 2016. From 1950 to 1951, Cosh worked with the Council of Industrial Design during the time of the Festival of Britain. From 1953, she worked as a freelance writer and researcher for other authors. One of these authors was James Leasor for whom she researched The Red Fort, War at the Top and The Plague and the Fire. Among other journals, she wrote for The Spectator, The Times and Country Life.[http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2010/may/islington-historian-treated-criminal-clipping-wing-mirror Islington historian treated like a criminal for clipping wing mirror.] Peter Gruner, Camden new Journal, 7 May 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
Historical writing
Cosh wrote extensively on the history of Islington, including her masterwork, A History of Islington, published by Historical Publications in 2005,[http://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/060905/r060905_01.htm From Tudor manors to grim Victorian slums.] Camden New Journal, 2005. Retrieved 1 March 2016. which was the first full-length history of the area since the mid nineteenth century. She also wrote two historical works relating to Scotland, firstly Inveraray and the Dukes of Argyll with Ian Lindsay, published by Edinburgh University Press in 1973, and Edinburgh, the golden age, published in 2005. That work dealt with the social and cultural life of Edinburgh during the Scottish Enlightenment, covering the period 1760 to 1832 and drawing on contemporary accounts in literature, newspapers, letters and journals. Cosh became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1986.[https://www.sal.org.uk/about-us/fellows-directory/C/page/11/ Fellows Directory.] Society of Antiquaries of London. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
Selected publications
=Fiction=
- The real world. Cassell, London, 1961.
=Non-fiction=
- Inveraray and the Dukes of Argyll. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1973. (With Ian G. Lindsay) {{ISBN|978-0852241875}}
- An historical walk through Clerkenwell. Islington Libraries, London, 1980. {{ISBN|978-0902260078}} (2nd revised edition 2007)
- History of St. Stephen's Church, Canonbury: The building and the people from its consecration in June 1839 to June 1989. St Stephen's Church, Canonbury, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0951487808}}
- An historical walk through Barnsbury. Islington Archaeology & History Society, London, 1981. {{ISBN|978-0950753201}} (2nd revised edition 2001)
- A Regents Canal walk: From Camden Lock to City Road Basin. Isledon Publications, 1985.
- An historical walk along the New River. Islington Archaeology & History Society, London, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0950753232}} (3rd revised edition 2001)
- The squares of Islington. Part 1, Finsbury and Clerkenwell. Islington Archaeology & History Society, London, 1990. {{ISBN|0950753254}}
- The squares of Islington. Part 2, Islington parish. Islington Archaeology & History Society, London, 1993. {{ISBN|0950753262}}
- McBean, Angus. (2001) Angus McBean in Islington. London: Islington Archaeology & History Society. (Editor)
- Edinburgh, the golden age. John Donald, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0859765718}}
- A history of Islington. Historical Publications, London, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0948667978}}
- 53 Cross Street: The biography of a house. Islington Archaeology & History Society, London, 2001. (With Martin King) {{ISBN|9780954849009}}
References
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Category:Journalists from Bristol
Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Category:Women's Royal Naval Service ratings
Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II