Family background
Richard Willment (also known as Wilmott or Willmot) Cozens was 19 when he arrived in Sydney in November 1848 on the ‘Emperor’, together with his 18-year-old wife Mary Jane and infant son William. Their remaining children were born in Sydney. He acquired land on the ridge between Enmore and Stanmore Roads and between Liberty and Cavendish Streets. The family, including his younger children Honor, Richard, Percy and Eugenie, lived at ‘Eugenie’, a large colonial style cottage built in the mid-1850s on the corner of Liberty and Cavendish Streets.
Cozens died on 20 October 1887, aged 58, at his daughter’s house ‘Moorvale’ in Newtown. The funeral was on Sunday 23 October, leaving his residence ‘Eugenie Cottage’, Cavendish Street, Enmore, for Rookwood Necropolis. He was survived by his wife, Mary Jane, and children.
Occupation & interests
Richard W. Cozens described himself as an ‘agent’, and he was also described as a money lender. Four months after entering Council, he proposed that the streets around his property were formed, comprising Cavendish, Liberty and Cambridge Streets.
Local government service
Richard W. Cozens was an alderman on Newtown Council in 1865-79, representing Enmore Ward. He had the longest continuous run of the early aldermen and served on the Improvement Committee.
References
Biographical information for this alderman was originally researched by Mark Matheson for the Newtown Project Website.
“Family Notices”, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 October 1887, 22, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13677646
“Family Notices”, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 29 October 1887, 944, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165221572
‘In the Supreme Court of New South Wales’, NSW Government Gazette, 4 November 1887, Issue No. 624, 7440, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article219928477
‘In Bankruptcy’, Evening News, 16 March 1889, 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108786136