He was apprenticed to Mr. Fiddian of London. Later he became the partner of Mr. J.G. Bland. In 1879 he began to practice on his own account. He was employed by Sir Josiah Mason in the erection of Mason College and other works. He designed the Norwich Union Buildings in Congreve Street (originally planned to be the Liberal Club), and were afterwards used for a time as a High School for Girls. Other buildings erected from his designs included the Unitarian Chapel in Bristol Street, The Jubilee Fountain Stratford-upon-Avon, Sutton Grammar School, The Cromwell Street Schools, and Darlaston Town Hall. He also directed the building of the Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Company in the West Indies.
He formed a successful partnership with
Barry Peacock in 1890 and
Ernest Bewlay in 1900 to form Cossins and Peacock and then Cossins, Peacock and Bewlay architectural partnerships. Many of the buildings they designed have been listed. Notable examples include the
Balsall Heath Library and the former Birmingham Ear Nose and Throat Hospital.
Shakespeare Memorial Fountain (also known as the American Fountain, or Jubilee Fountain), Rother Street, Stratford upon Avon, 1886-7, Grade II*[11] *Unitarian Old Meeting House, Bristol Street, Birmingham 1885 (demolished)