Dorset’s outstanding landscapes have long been a draw for tourists, and we are sure that there will be a great many who will be visiting different parts of the county during this Easter Bank Holiday weekend! Visitors currently spend around £1 billion in Dorset, with many supporting small and medium sized businesses across the county.
An early beneficiary of the Dorset tourist scene was Cosens & Co Ltd who operated a fleet of paddle steamers taking tourists on leisurely pleasure cruises along the south. The paddle steamers were an iconic part of the seaside scenery in Dorset for nearly 150 years! When the company finally ceased to operate in the 1990s, a paddle steamer enthusiast saved the company’s archives, and passed them to Dorset History Centre for preservation.
The collection includes photographs and advertisements as well as administrative and financial records. Photographs in the collection feature the paddle steamers and views along the Dorset coast.
Chimpanzees regularly sailed to allow photo opportunities for tourists…
—
Cosens also undertook marine engineering and ship repair work. A recently collected oral history reveals what it was like working at Cosens in the 1940s. Len Guiver became an apprentice at the age of 15 and described his job during the war:
“During the war it was all admiralty repairs. We had a couple of drifters, um, Lowestoft drifters, that were being used as minesweepers in the channel and they came in for repairs. Some had to have new plates put in their sides… It was very interesting work really; heavy, noisy, but enjoyable.”
Len explains how 150 staff were made redundant when the government contracts finished in 1948. Though Len has positive memories of his time at Cosens:
“Oh yes, we were a happy crowd, yes, yes. Boss was a very decent, lenient sort of man and the managing director was Charles Kaile. He was well known in Weymouth, he was the mayor for a number of years, an alderman even.”
Cosens is one of several business archives we hold at Dorset History Centre. Recent additions to our collections include department store Beales and the Yellow Buses company.