Author: Cosens, John
Biography:
COSENS, John (1736-91: ACAD)
Cosens is the usual spelling of his surname but it occasionally appears as Cozens or Cossens. He was the son of John Cosens (b 1715), an attorney in Southampton, and his wife Judith Bennet; they had married in Southampton on 30 July 1733. ACAD gives his date of birth in Southampton as 9 Mar. 1736 but no record has been found. Nothing is known about Cosens’s early education but he was ordained in 1760, served as vicar of St. Martin’s in Drayton, Middlesex, from 1760 to 1765, and was perpetual curate at Teddington, Middlesex, from 1761 until his death. He became DD in Edinburgh in 1769 and on 12 July 1773 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, as a “ten year man.” He married Sarah Rayner probably in about 1760 but no record of the marriage has been located and her name is known only from his will; she predeceased him. They had one son, William (b 1762), and five daughters. After Sarah’s death Cosens married a widow, Mary Hart; they had two sons, Francis and Charles. Cosens died on 17 Dec. 1791 and was buried at St. Mary’s church, Teddington, on 23 Dec. His will was proved on 4 Jan. 1792. Cosens’s Windsor, an Ode (1778) is just 8 pages and not included here. He was a tutor to the Princess Royal and he dedicated The Economy of Beauty to her. In 1830 his youngest daughter, Elizabeth Reid, being widowed and impoverished, applied to the RLF for assistance on the grounds of her father's literary reputation. The fund denied her request. (ancestry.co.uk 10 Apr. 2024; ACAD; CCEd 10 Apr. 2024; findmypast.co.uk 10 Apr. 2024; RLF file 679) SR
Other Names:
- Dr. Cosens
- Dr. Cozens