AT LEAST 150 YEARS of Dorset history can be explored in fascinating detail through the archives of Cosens, once Weymouth’s largest employer.

The spread of tourism, the fortunes of the Navy, the grandeur of paddle steamers, the fragile life of piers, the differing economic merits of shipwrecks, chimpanzees and striptease, these are just some of the subjects lighted up.

So it’s exciting news that Dorset History Centre in Dorchester has been given £2,000 by the Business Archives Council to catalogue Cosens’ photographs, adverts and business records.

Cosens

The company was founded in 1848 by Capt Joseph Cosens, who was born in Weymouth in 1816. It ceased trading in 1996.

Cosens’ archives were saved from destruction by Richard Clammer, who then used them as the basis for two brilliant books called Cosens of Weymouth, the first covering the period from 1918 to 1996, the second from 1848 to 1918.

(Although they range much more widely than that might suggest: Mr Clammer points out, for example, that Cosens is a name that goes back in Dorset to the 16 century. It’s often also spelt as Cousens or Cozens, as in the current Lyme Regis town councillor and former Lyme Regis News reporter David Cozens. Joseph Cosens’ parents are known to have lived in Lyme Regis). 

Anyway, it was Mr Clammer (himself born in Weymouth) who gave Cosens’ records to the Dorset History Centre for preservation.

Paddle steamers

Cosens were best known for their paddle steamers, which from 1848 until 1967 took pleasure-seekers – mostly – on trips along the coasts of Dorset, Devon and Hampshire, and sometimes even over to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands.

I say mostly because, in the early days, Cosens also transported convicts from Southampton to Portland to work on the building of Portland Harbour, which was in the mid-19th century the largest single engineering project in the British Empire. While during the First and Second World Wars steamers were requisitioned to serve as minesweepers. The Emperor of India took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, and Cosens’ ships and workers were also involved with D-Day.

Aside from steamers, Cosens were involved in many other enterprises, some of which can be seen in the video accompanying this piece.

Mr Clammer also appears in the video, expressing the belief that Weymouth should do more to remember a company which did help to shape South Dorset. Not much has been done: there is Cosens Quay…

Sailing

Still, perhaps more people might now take an interest. Hilary Cox, Dorset County Council Cabinet for community services, has said: “The collection will not only provide historical context to the sailing events in the 2012 Olympic Games but also support the History Centre’s family learning programme, which includes seaside holidays among its themes.”

I know many people in Dorset now groan at the very mention of the Olympics, but there is merit in the “historical context’ argument.

In 1874, for example, Mr Clammer recounts Cosens’ paddle steamer Premier voyaging out to see yachts racing from Southsea to Weymouth.

“The yachts, which included the 192 ton schooner Gwendolin and the 136 ton yawl Florinda, were owned by the ultra-wealthy of the day and spent the summer sailing from port to port along the south coast competing in local regattas.

“The racing became a popular spectator sport and added a cosmopolitan new dimension to the seaside scene.

“For the final evening of the Weymouth regatta, the esplanade was ‘lighted up by various coloured fires’ and there was a small firework display but the most attractive feature was the Pile Pier which was ‘charmingly illuminated with diverse coloured lanterns and fires and where a large number of rockets were discharged’, all at the expense of the steamboat company.”         

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