Jethro Anstice Cossins was born in Kingsdon, Somerset, England on 7 July 1830 and was articled to Frederick William Fiddian in London in 1847. In 1850 he moved to Birmingham.
He was in partnership with John George Bland (1820-1898) from 1880; with Frank Barry Peacock (1859-1937) from 1889 [or 1887- sources differ] as Cossins & Peacock; and with Hubert Rawson Bewlay (1869-1904) as Cossins, Peacock & Bewlay. When Bewlay became ill, he was replaced in the partnership by his younger brother, Ernest Chawner Bewlay (1872-1942) in c.1900.
Cossins subsequently withdrew from the practice and by 1916 Peacock and Bewlay were in partnership with Samuel Nathaniel Cooke (1882-1964) as Peacock Bewlay & Cooke in Birmingham. Cooke at some time also dropped out of the partnership and Peacock and Bewlay continued the practice as Peacock & Bewlay. The partnership was eventually dissolved in December 1934.
Cossins was a member Birmingham Architectural Association and its President. He was also a member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). In addition to his work as an architect, Cossins was a painter. He died in Birmingham on 8 December 1917.
A biographical file on Jethro Anstice Cossins is available at the Enquiry Desk at the Royal Institute of British Architects Library in London
Architectural projects by Cossins included Mason Science College, Edmund Street, Birmingham (1880); 15 Westbourne Road, Birmingham (1881-82); Old Liberal Club, Edmund Street, Birmingham (1883); Cromwell Junior and Infant School, Birmingham (1888); Town Hall, Darlaston (1888); Bloomsbury Library, Nechells, Birmingham (1890); Birmingham Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital (1890-91); Library, Balsall Heath, Birmingham (1895); 15 Wentworth Road, Sutton Coldfield (1908).
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See also: Baker, Ann; Butler, Joanne and Southworth, Pat. ‘Cossins Peacock and Bewlay’ [see Bibliography below] for a selected list of architectural works by Cossins Peacock & Bewlay (pp. 239-248).
Baker, Ann; Butler, Joanne and Southworth, Pat. ‘Cossins Peacock and Bewlay’ in Birmingham’s Victorian and Edwardian Architects, edited by Phillada Ballard. Wetherby: Oblong Creative Ltd. for the Birmingham and West Midlands Group of the Victorian Society, 2009 pp. 221-252
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001