Talk:Richard Cobden

Errors
This encyclopedia entry demonstrates the dangers of relying on single or outdated sources. It replicates several errors concerning Cobden's early years that probably originated in Henry Ashworth's 1876 book on Cobden and the Anti-Corn Law League. For instance, Cobden's schooling took place at Bowes Hall in Yorkshire from 1814-19, not Midhurst Grammar School. According to John Morley's biography (which the original author of this piece cites but had clearly not read properly), Cobden attended a dame school in Midhurst before that date. Also, Cobden only went to work for Partridge and Price (neither of whom were related to him) after the failure of his uncle's business - the uncle being Richard Ware Cole. The account of Cobden's association with the Fort brothers is also misleading - Cobden, Sherriff and Gillett had been doing business for them since 1828. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.143.121.26 (talk) 14:09, 4 February 2004 (UTC)


 * This being a wiki, I'd encourage you to edit the article to reflect current knowledge of Cobden.  We strive to be as up-to-date as possible, but we're only as good as our contributors make us. - Hephaestos 14:11, 4 February 2004 (UTC)

It could do with being rewritten in more up-to-date English. At the moment it reads as though the text was copied from some 100-year old volume.MissingMia (talk) 13:37, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Article in The Economist
There is a short article in The Economist about him - unfortunately, it is pay per view, so I am not sure if we should add this to the external links section? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 19:53, 12 June 2004 (UTC)

Knighted?
Was Cobden Knighted? I've seen him styled Sir Richard before, yet in this article it doesn't mention it. It might just be a family legend, come to think of it... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.12.234.51 (talk) 19:28, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Was he a councillor?
The article doesn't seem to mention him being a councillor (though he was a member of the privy council, which is different) though the article is in the category of Manchester councillors. The category is for "Local elected councillors, past and present, serving on the 'Manchester City Council'". Should he be removed from this category? Thanks. Thegraham 09:40, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Actually Cobden was a member of Manchester's borough council from 1838, but was never a Privy Councillor. Palmerston offered him the latter position in 1861, but he declined in order to maintain his independence of the government. Similarly, he was never knighted, having also turned down a baronetcy. Full information can be found in the standard biographies of Cobden (Morley, Hinde and Edsall). SJM 17.16, 28 Sept 2006. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.210.79.115 (talk) 16:24, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Corn Laws
It is possible to read the whole of this section, and still not know what the Corn Laws debate was about in the first place. As Cobden is so strongly identified with this debate, I feel that the issues ought to be set out with particular clarity. Valetude (talk) 19:18, 22 January 2014 (UTC)

'British schools'?
Under 'First steps in politics', it says 'Some of his first attempts in public speaking were at meetings... to advocate the establishment of British schools.' What does this mean? Valetude (talk) 18:17, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

Infobox
It would be useful if the infobox recognised Richard Cobden's office as a member of Parliament (e.g. Infobox Politician). This would then be more consistent with other entries for former M.P.'s. Fgtbell (talk) 08:07, 22 April 2018 (UTC)

Richard Cobden had racist views
He believed in superior and inferior races. See PAGE 200:

Bibliographic information

Title	Reminiscences of Richard Cobden Authors	Julie Salis-Schwabe, Richard Cobden Editors	Julie Salis-Schwabe, Salis Schwabe Compiled by	Julie Salis-Schwabe, Salis Schwabe Publisher	T. F. Unwin, 1895

LINK: --Creator Edition (talk) 13:01, 22 January 2021 (UTC)