Lewis Cozens

Lewis Cozens (full name Henry Lewis Cozens He was a bank clerk by profession and his family came from the Welsh county of Montgomeryshire. He married Elizabeth Kindlberger in London in 1939.

In 1935, Cozens' mother Mary died, leaving £145 to Lewis and his brother David. also died, leaving Lewis £150 in his will. The unusual declaration in the will was reported in the Birmingham Daily Post, it said the bequest was "in view of the fact that I paid no premium for his career and he was no charge to me from the age of eighteen".

During his holidays in Wales before and after World War II, he explored the many minor railways of mid Wales. This led to the publication of Cozens' 1955 book on the Plynlimon and Hafan.

In 1949, he published the first of his histories on Welsh railways, about the Talyllyn Railway. These early books were self-published and were slim volumes, as printing paper was still rationed in the immediate post-war years. He soon followed with books on the Corris Railway, the Mawddwy Railway and other local lines. His books were the first serious attempt to publish histories of these railways and they introduced many early railway enthusiasts to them. Cozens was a friend of other notable early railway historians, including James Boyd,

Several of Cozen's early books were later expanded and republished. While many of his books have been superseded by more detailed histories, his work was influential on later authors and provided important early coverage of the subject.

Works