Bibliography - Cobden, Richard
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Richard Cobden, by Mark Antony Lower, published 1865 in The Worthies of Sussex (pp.290-294) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 3208][Lib 3233][Lib 3304] & The Keep [LIB/503515][LIB/504913]

Cobden and the League: Recollections of Richard Cobden MP and the Ant Corn Law League, by Henry Ashworth, published 1876 accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12712]

The Life of Richard Cobden (Volume 1), by John Morley, published 1881 (539 pp., London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12736]   View Online

The Life of Richard Cobden (Volume 2), by John Morley, published 1881 (525 pp., London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12737]   View Online

The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, by Richard Cobden, published 1886 accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12724]

The Life of Richard Cobden (abridged edition), by John Morley, published c.1900 accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12741]

The Life of Richard Cobden, by John Morley, published 1903 (T. Fisher Unwin) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12738][Lib 12739] & West Sussex Libraries

Richard Cobden: The International Man, by J. A. Hobson, published 1919 (416 pps, London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12734][Lib 9141] & West Sussex Libraries   View Online

In the Country of Cobden, by Rev. A. A. Evans, published 1933 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. VII no. 8, article, pp.530-534) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2312] & The Keep [LIB/500176]

Men of Sussex: Half-Forgotten Worthies. 5 - Richard Cobden, by S.C.M. Contributor(s), published 1934 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. VIII no. 5, article, pp.340-341) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9329] & The Keep [LIB/500177]

The Cobden Papers: A Catalogue, edited by Francis W. Steer, published 1963 (Chichester: West Sussex County Council) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/501842] & West Sussex Libraries

The Cobden and Unwin Papers, A Catalogue, edited by Patricia Gill, published 1967 accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5618] & The Keep [LIB/501846] & West Sussex Libraries

Richard Cobden and the development of the Manchester School of Economics, by Camille P. Castorina, 1976 at Manchester University (Ph.D. thesis)

Dunford, Home of the Cobden, by E. Pritchard, published September 1979 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 14, article, p.3) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/14] & The Keep [LIB/500479]

Richard Cobden at Home, by Eleanor Pritchard, published September 1980 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 17, article, p.7) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/17] & The Keep [LIB/500479]

Cobden Country, by Eleanor Pritchard, published 1981 (pamphlet, Midhurst Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7892] & West Sussex Libraries

The Daughters of Cobden, Part 1, by Eleanor Pritchard, published May 1983 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 25, article, p.17) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/25] & The Keep [LIB/500480]

The Daughters of Cobden, Part 2, by Eleanor Pritchard, published September 1983 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 26, article, p.27) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/26] & The Keep [LIB/500480]

Richard Cobden: Independent Radical, by Nicholas C Edsall, published 1 July 1987 (416 pp., Harvard University Press, ISBN-10: 0674768795 & ISBN-13: 9780674768796) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12728][Lib 10000]

On Richard Cobden's death, Charles Francis Adams noted in his diary that Cobden "had fought his way to fame and honor by the single force of his character. He had nothing to give. No wealth, no honors, no preferment. He first taught the multitude by precept and example that the right of government was not really to the few, but to the many." Disraeli was no less acute when he remarked that Cobden was "the greatest political character that the pure middle class of this country has yet produced." In this biography Nicholas Edsall demonstrates how Cobden dominated middle-class radicalism from its high-water mark in the turbulent 1840s to the quieter years immediately before the emergence of the Gladstonian Liberal party in the 1860s. Cobden headed the movement for the incorporation of his adopted city, Manchester; he was the leader of the most successful of Victorian mass agitations, the Anti-Corn Law League, and chief adviser to the movement for the repeal of newspaper taxes; he was a founder of the mid-nineteenth-century peace movement and a vocal opponent of the Crimean War; he was the chief English negotiator of the Anglo-French Commercial Treaty of 1860; and he was one of the earliest critics of the modern arms race. This is the first full-length biography since the publication of the official life more than a century ago. Not only has a good deal of new material become available, but the passage of time has served to underscore Cobden's significance both as a spokesman for the middle class in an era of acute class conflict and as a critic of the aims of great-power diplomacy at a time when his own country was the greatest of powers.

Richard Cobden: a Victorian Outsider, by Wendy Hinde, published 1 July 1987 (380 pp., Yale University Press, ISBN-10: 0300038801 & ISBN-13: 9780300038804) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12732][Lib 9745] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Richard Cobden, one of the great figures of nineteenth-century English liberalism, had a career that touched on many aspects of Victorian life and thought. This new biography by Wendy Hinde is the first to be based on a thorough study of his letters and papers. Hinde's life of Cobden focuses on his fascinating career and his singular personality. She describes how, with his friend John Bright, he became the successful leader of the seven year campaign to repeal the corn laws, which removed protective tariffs from domestic agricultural goods and brought the working man within reach of a decent standard of living. For this achievement Cobden won both national and international fame. However, a few years later he forfeited his immense popularity by his outright opposition to the Crimean War. Because he insisted that the British should stop interfering in the affairs of other countries, he was characterized as unpatriotic and as an advocate of peace at any price. Then, after he had urged England to emulate America's peaceful progress, the United States became involved in its Civil War - a shattering blow to Cobden. The last years of his life were clouded by domestic tragedy, ill health, and his growing frustration at his country's apparent lack of interest in further reform. However, he had one final success when he negotiated, on behalf of a British government in which he had refused office, a treaty that brought down the tariff barriers between England and France. Hinde captures Cobden's character - his personal charm, courage and single-mindedness, intellectual liveliness, and the lack of self ambition - and argues convincingly that he was one of the most original and attractive figures in the pantheon of English politics. Her subtle and sympathetic biography of Cobden brings this eminent Victorian statesman to life. Wendy Hinde worked on 'The Economist' and was editor of 'International Affairs'. She is the author of distinguished biographies of two other nineteenth-century statesmen, George Canning and Castlereagh.

The Cobden Family of West Sussex: A Search for Personalities, by Margery Waddams, published March 1988 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 8 no. 1, article, pp.3-8) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10736] & The Keep [LIB/501260] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

Edward Cobden (1703-1759) and Jane Wittington (1711-1759) had nine children. Article covers the years 1703 - 1814 in the parishes of Charlton, West Dean, and Singleton.

Cobden and his Kate: The Story of a Marriage, by Jean Scott Rogers, published 1 November 1990 (200 pp., Historical Publications Ltd, ISBN-10: 0948667117 & ISBN-13: 9780948667114) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12752] & West Sussex Libraries

Richard Cobden, 1804-1865, by Joy Collingwood, published October 1996 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 58, article, p.16) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/58] & The Keep [LIB/500484]