1763-1835. British Radical politician and
journalist, who published the weekly
Political Register 1802-35. He spent much
time in North America. His crusading essays
on farmers' conditions were collected as
Rural Rides 1830. Born in Surrey, the
self-taught son of a farmer, Cobbett enlisted
in the army 1784 and served in Canada. He
subsequently lived in the USA as a teacher of
English, and became a vigorous pamphleteer,
at this time supporting the Tories. In 1800
he returned to England. With increasing
knowledge of the sufferings of the farm
labourers, he became a Radical and leader of
the working-class movement. He was imprisoned
1809-11 for criticizing the flogging of
British troops by German mercenaries. He
visited the USA again 1817-19. He became a
strong advocate of parliamentary reform, and
represented Oldham in the Reformed Parliament
after 1832.