Editing 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 Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| office              = [[House of Commons]]
| termstart           = 1885
| termend             = 1900
| office1             = Chairman of the [[South Eastern Railway (England)|South Eastern Railway]]
| termstart1          = 1897
| termend1            = 1928
}}
'''Sir Henry Cosmo Orme Bonsor, 1st Baronet''', [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]] (2 September 1848 – 4 December 1929) was an English brewer and businessman and a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician who sat in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] from 1885 to 1900.

==Biography==
Bonsor was born in [[Polesden Lacey]] on 2 September 1848, the son of Joseph Bonsor.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]] and with his father and brother became a partner in the brewing firm of Combe & Co. He was a [[List of directors of the Bank of England|director of the Bank of England]], and a Governor of [[Guy's Hospital]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1886londuoft Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886]</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

In 1885 Bonsor was elected [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|M.P.]] for [[Wimbledon (UK Parliament constituency)|Wimbledon]] and held the seat until 1900.<ref>{{hansard-contribs | mr-henry-bonsor | Henry Bonsor }}</ref> Also in 1885, Bonsor purchased the estate of [[Kingswood, Surrey|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.<ref name=Kingswood>{{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 }}</ref>

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|thumb|right|200px|Mabel and Cosmo Bonsor in 1898]]

Bonsor was created a [[baronet]] on 26 January 1925.<ref>{{Rayment-bt|date=March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33015 |date=27 January 1925 |page=590}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Kingswood/> His son Reginald succeeded to the baronetcy.

==Railway service==
In 1895 Bonsor was appointed deputy-chairman of the [[South Eastern Railway (UK)|South Eastern Railway]] (SER), and was elected chairman of that railway following the death of the incumbent, [[Sir George Russell, 4th Baronet|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 (UK)|Southern Railway]] at the start of 1923.<ref>{{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 Publishing|Ian Allan]] |location=Shepperton |isbn=0-7110-0059-X |pages=314, 355, 393, 488, 490 }}</ref> 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 (train operating company)|Southern]] services to [[London Bridge]]. The train stock was of [[British Rail Class 456|Class 456]].<ref>[http://www.the-siding.co.uk/class456/pages/456024.htm  456024 "Sir Cosmo Bonsor"]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
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{{s-ttl| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Wimbledon (UK Parliament constituency)|Wimbledon]]| years  = [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]]–[[1900 United Kingdom general election|1900]]}}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Charles Eric Hambro]] }}
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{{s-ttl | title=[[Bonsor baronets|Baronet]] <br />'''(of Kingswood)''' | years=1925–1929 }}
{{s-aft | after=[[Reginald Bonsor]] }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonsor, Cosmo}}
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[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]]
[[Category:Bonsor baronets|Cosmo]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Surrey]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1892–1895]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1895–1900]]
[[Category:South Eastern and Chatham Railway people]]