Cobden, Richard (kŏb`dən), 1804–65, British politician, a leading spokesman for the Manchester school Manchester school, group of English political economists of the 19th cent., so called because they met at Manchester. Their most outstanding leaders were Richard Cobden and John Bright .
..... Click the link for more information. . He made a fortune as a calico printer in Manchester. A firm believer in free trade, after 1838 he devoted himself to the formation and work of the Anti-Corn-Law League Anti-Corn-Law League, organization formed in 1839 to work for the repeal of the English corn laws . It was an affiliation of groups in various cities and districts with headquarters at Manchester and was an outgrowth of the smaller Manchester Anti-Corn-Law
..... Click the link for more information. . Campaigning both inside and outside Parliament (to which he was elected in 1841), he finally won over Sir Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 1788–1850, British statesman. The son of a rich cotton manufacturer, whose baronetcy he inherited in 1830, Peel entered Parliament as a Tory in 1809.
..... Click the link for more information. , and the corn laws were repealed in 1846. After 1849, Cobden concerned himself chiefly with foreign policy, advocating nonintervention in Europe and an end to imperial expansion. He became unpopular for his opposition to the Crimean War (1854–56) and lost his parliamentary seat in 1857. Reelected in 1859, he negotiated (1859–60) the "Cobden Treaty" for reciprocal tariffs with France. Like his close associate John Bright Bright, John, 1811–89, British statesman and orator. He was the son of a Quaker cotton manufacturer in Lancashire. A founder (1839) of the Anti-Corn Law League, he rose to prominence on the strength of his formidable oratory against the corn laws .
..... Click the link for more information. , he favored the North in the Civil War in the United States (which he had twice visited). His many speeches, letters, and pamphlets have been published.

Bibliography

See biography by W. Hinde (1987); study by D. Read (1967).

Cobden, Richard

Cobden, pencil sketch by V. Manzano; in the West Sussex Record Office (Cobden Papers 762)

(credit: Courtesy of the Governors of Dunford and the County Archivist of West Sussex)

(born June 3, 1804, Dunford Farm, near Midhurst, Sussex, Eng.—died April 2, 1865, London) British politician. He gained an independent fortune in the calico wholesale business. After travel to study trade policies in Europe and the U.S., he wrote pamphlets on international free trade. He was elected to Parliament (1841–57, 1859–65) and, with his close associate, John Bright, successfully fought to repeal the Corn Laws. In the 1850s he argued for friendly relations with Russia, even after the Crimean War had begun. He helped negotiate a commercial treaty with France (1860) that included a most-favoured-nation clause later duplicated in other treaties.