Richard
Cobden, was born in Heyshott, near Midhurst, Sussex, on
3rd June, 1804. His parents had eleven children and spent his early
life in extreme poverty. Richard's father was an unsuccessful small
farmer and eventually he was forced to distribute his children to
numerous relatives. Richard was sent to an uncle in Yorkshire where
he was treated very badly.
Cobden received very little formal schooling and at the age of fourteen
became a clerk in the textile industry.
A year later he was working as a commercial traveller. After developing
knowledge of the cotton trade, Cobden
decided to start his own business. In 1828 he joined with two other
young men to start a company selling calico prints in London.
The business was an immediate success and by 1832 Richard Cobden was
living in an affluent part of Manchester.
After eight years Cobden and his partners had turned a £1,000
investment into £80,000.
Cobden had made enough money to spend time travelling. Between 1833
and 1837 he visited France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, America,
Egypt, Greece and Russia. Cobden collected information about these
countries and in 1835 published his book, England, Ireland and
America. In this book Cobden warned that in the future Britain
would find it difficult to compete with the emerging economic power
of America. Cobden was also extremely critical of the way that Ireland
was being ruled. In the book Cobden also advocated a policy of free
trade, low taxation, reduced military spending and an improvement
in our system of education.
In 1837 Richard Cobden became a member of the Manchester Chamber of
Commerce and joined Thomas Potter and John
Shuttleworth in the agitation that resulted in Manchester
achieving a democratically elected local council. In 1838 Cobden was
one if the first men to be elected as a Manchester alderman.
In October 1837, Joseph Hume, Francis
Place and John Roebuck formed the
Anti-Corn Law Association in London.
The following year Cobden joined with Archibald
Prentice to establish a branch of this organisation in Manchester.
In 1839 Cobden and the Manchester Anti-Corn Law Association presented
a petition to Parliament. With four-fifths of all MPs representing
rural constituencies it soon became clear to Cobden that petitions
in themselves would not achieve the repeal of the Corn Laws.
In March
1839 Cobden was instrumental in establishing a new centralized Anti-Corn
Law League. Cobden was now able to organize a national campaign
in favour of reform. Cobden recruited a number of talented speakers
to the movement, the most important of which was John
Bright, who at that time was Britain's most successful orators.
In 1841 General Election Cobden became the
MP for Stockport. Although Cobden continued to tour the country making
speeches against the Corn Laws, he was now
in a position to constantly remind the British government that reform
was needed. The economic depression of 1840-1842 increased membership
of the Anti-Corn Law League and Cobden
and John Bright spoke to very large audiences
all over the country. By 1845 the League was the wealthiest and best
organised political group in Britain.
The failure of the Irish potato crop in 1845 and the mass starvation
that followed, forced Sir Robert Peel and
his Conservative government to reconsider the wisdom of the Corn
Laws. Irish nationalists such as Daniel
O'Connell also became involved in the campaign. Peel was gradual
won over and in January 1846 a new Corn Law
was passed that reduced the duty on oats, barley and wheat to the
insignificant sum of one shilling per quarter became law.
Richard Cobden was now a national hero but because he had neglected
his business in Manchester he was now
deeply in debt. His supporters raised £8,000 as a reward for
his efforts and he used this money to purchase Dunford, the farmhouse
where he was born in Heyshott.
After the resignation of Sir Robert Peel,
the new Prime Minister, Lord John Russell,
offered Cobden a post in his government. Cobden refused and now switched
his attention to campaigning for parliamentary reform and state supported
education.
Cobden was completely opposed to the aggressive foreign policy of
Lord Palmerston. Cobden joined with
John Bright to campaign against the Crimean
War (1854-1856). The two men were much abused by the press and
some MPs even accused them of treason.
The British public shared the government's enthusiasm for the war
and in the 1857 General Election, both Cobden
and John Bright lost their seats in Parliament.
By the 1859 General Election the public had
forgiven Cobden for his anti-war stance and he was elected to represent
Rochdale. Lord Palmerston, offered
Cobden the chance to become President of the Board of Trade. However,
Cobden declined saying he could not as a matter of principal serve
under Palmerston.
Cobden believed that international trade was essential if war between
major powers was to be avoided. William
Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed and recruited
Cobden to negotiate a new trade agreement with France. In 1860 Britain
and France signed a commercial treaty that reduced the tariff on a
variety of goods.
The outbreak of the American Civil War
upset Cobden who was a great admirer of American democracy. Cobden
feared that the British government might intervene on the side of
the Confederacy. Cobden was a passionate supporter of Abraham
Lincoln but he did not live to see the Union victory. On 2nd April,
1865, Richard Cobden died of an
acute attack of bronchitis.
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