John Cossins

John Cossins (1697-1743) was an early map maker, renowned for the following:
 * plan of Leeds (c.1730) titled "A New and Exact Plan of the Town of Leedes"
 * map of York (1726): "New and Exact Plan of the City of York" This displayed fashionable new houses around the margin of the map.

His notebook (1726) including subscriptions and sketches is in the York City Archives

In 1993 Sothebys offered for sale a notebook written by John Cossins. It contained notes on his maps of Scarborough, York and Leeds and also a list of the people who subscribed to those maps. This was bought by the City Archivist for York. Originally 138 people subscribed to 192 copies of the Leeds plan; only one copy is now accessible, in Leeds City Museum. It has been suggested that Thoresby was instrumental in hiring Cossins, and a copy of the map is kept at the Thoresby Society.

It is not clear whether this is the same John Cossins as the one after whom Cossins Road in Bristol is named. This commemorates John Cossins, who acquired the estate in 1732. The son of a well-to-do London grocer, he married the daughter of a Bristol merchant and made his home in Redland. He replaced the old manor house with Redland Court, a house of Classical design. Redland Court still stands and is now used as a school and has been much changed and enlarged though its well known Bath stone frontage is still visible from the streets that now cover most of the original grounds. Cossins was also responsible for the building of Redland church, which was originally the Court's private chapel. It was built of Bath stone like the Court to a very simple, yet elegant design. Thomas Paty, the well known local architect was involved in its construction. In 1898 the Bishop of Bristol's palace was built on the site, only to be bombed in December 1940 and later demolished.