Local History Day

Join Avon Local History & Archaeology (ALHA) and Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeology Society (BGAS) at Turnberrie’s on Saturday 13 April for a conference day to mark the 200th anniversary of Handel Cossham’s birth in Thornbury. He was a remarkable figure – a mine owner, geologist, philanthropist, temperance campaigner, local preacher, an MP and founder and funder of schools and whose bequest funded the establishment of Cossham Hospital.

Talks will cover Handel Cossham’s origins and family, his career and development of his business in mining, his work on the geology of the South Gloucestershire coalfield, his charitable and philanthropic work, especially regarding local schools connected with Methodist and Congregationalist chapels, his campaigning for temperance, his political activities as Bristol and Bath councillor, Mayor of Bath and MP for Bristol East, and the history of Cossham Memorial Hospital on the borders of Bristol and Kingswood.

Speakers will include David Hardwicke, Steve Grudgings, Terry Ransome, William Evans, Alan Clarke, John Stevens and Michael Whitfield. His parliamentary duties permitting, the event will be chaired by Lord Murphy of Torfaen, a kinsman of Handel Cossham.

A display of artefacts and documents relating to Handel Cossham will be open at Thornbury library until 12.30 on the day.

The event will run from 9.30am to 4.40pm. Tea and coffee will be served during the day. There will be a lunchtime break and you can bring your own lunch if you wish. Tickets cost £15 plus booking fee and are available from www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/handel-cossham-1824-1890-tickets-774889725027

Museum Exhibition about Handel Cossham:

We at Thornbury and District Museum are also celebrating the life of this major West Country figure with a detailed exhibition about his life. On the day of the conference, the Museum will be open until 6pm to allow time for attendees to visit afterwards.

Fittingly, the Museum is next door to the Cossham Hall. The story of how in 1888 Handel gave this former Wesleyan Chapel to the people of Thornbury for use as a public hall is part of the exhibition, along with the story of another of his gifts to the town – the setting up of a British School at Gillingstool, which he paid for in 1862. The exhibition will run until the end of April.

The Museum’s usual opening hours are Tuesdays and Fridays from 1pm to 4pm and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. Entry is free.