William Cobbett MP (1763 - 1835)

Born 9 Mar 1763 in Farnham, Surrey, England

Husband of Ann (Reid) Cobbett — married 5 Feb 1792 in St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, Kent, England

Died 18 Jun 1835 at age 72 in Normandy, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

William Cobbett MP is Notable.

William Cobbett was born on the 9th of March 1763 at Farnham in Surrey, son of farmer and publican George Cobbett and his wife, Anne Vincent. ^[1] He was baptised at St Andrew, Farnham on the 1st of April. ^[2]

After having worked as a clerk in London in 1783 he joined the 54th Regiment of Foot and in 1785 sailed for Nova Scotia with his regiment. Promoted through the ranks it was as Sergeant Major that he returned to England in 1791 and obtained his discharge from the army on the 19th of December. ^[1]

On the 5th of February 1792 at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich he married Ann Reid ^[3] whom he had courted in Nova Scotia but who had had to return to England with her father several years before.^[1] Almost at once he perceived that he was in trouble for the publication of "The Soldier's Friend" denouncing the poor pay and harsh treatment of enlisted men in the army and took himself to France intending to stay for a year and learn the language. ^[1] France was in the midst of a revolution and around the time of the proclamation of the First Republic^[4], William crossed the Atlantic again to live in the United States. Settled in Philadelphia by the spring of 1793 he earned his living teaching Frenchmen English and translating. He became an outspoken defender of his country and too noisy a critic of others and in 1800 thought it best to return to his native land.^[1]

Whether he was for something or against it he made his opinions very clear. He opposed the Peace of Amiens, attempts to replace rural sports with Sunday schools and hymn singing, and the great size of the National debt. In 1806 he campaigned for Thomas Cochrane to be elected to Parliament for the potwalloper borough of Honiton in Devon in a by-election. ^[1] Though Cochrane failed he was returned at the general election later the same year. ^[5] William was sentenced to two years imprisonment in Newgate in 1810 for treasonous libel emerging as a champion of parliamentary reform. He began publishing a pamphlet which sold for 2d as opposed to newspapers where the tax alone was 4d with the consequence that his ideas were read more widely among the poor. He was opposed to William Wilberforce for his endorsement of the Corn Laws, his opposition to bull and bear baiting and his concern for negro slaves abroad when Wilberforce evinced no concern for the plight of impoverished citizens of his own country. It was probably however Cobbett's agitation for parliamentary reform that led the government to plan to arrest him for sedition while intending to suspend habeas corpus. With his two eldest sons, William and John, he fled to the United States and did not return to England until 1819. ^[1]

In 1820 he sought election to parliament for Coventry but was soundly beaten by Edward Ellice and Peter Moore. ^[6] In 1826 he was defeated at Preston by Edward Smith Stanley and John Wood. ^[7]

William was active in the Swing Riots of the 1830s, eventually being charged with seditious libel for his writings in the Political Register. He also gave speeches during the era in support of the rural laborer. He eventually discredited the prosecution's case and was acquitted.^[8] He failed to be elected to parliament at Manchester in 1832 but after the passing of the 1832 Reform Act he was returned as member for Oldham. His last great cause was his opposition to Poor Law reform which would, and did, sweep away outdoor relief and bring in the era of the workhouse.

William died June 18, 1835 at Normandy in Surrey. He was buried on the 27th of June at St Andrew, Farnham ^[9] where he had been baptised.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Wikipedia: William Cobbett
2. ↑ Surrey, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 (Farnham, St Andrew 1 Apr 1763 Wm Cobbett son of George Cobbett)
3. ↑ London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936 (St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich 5 February 1792 William Cobbett of Portsmouth married Ann Reid of Woolwich spinster, minor. William signed, Ann made a mark)
4. ↑ Wikipedia: French Revolution
5. ↑ History of Parliament online 1790-1820: Honiton
6. ↑ History of Parliament online 1820-1832: Coventry
7. ↑ History of Parliament online 1820-1832: Preston
8. ↑ Wikipedia contributors. Swing Riots. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 18, 2021, 12:54 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swing_Riots&oldid=1045039644. Accessed September 21, 2021.
9. ↑ Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1997 (Farnham, St Andrew 27 June 1835 William Cobbett of Normandy Ash, MP for Oldham)

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: William Cobbett

• William Cobbett in the Maritimes, by Wallace Brown

• The Life of William Cobbett, E. L. Carey & A. Hart (publishers), Philadelphia, PA, 1835