Richard Cobden
(1804-1865)

Died aged c. 61

Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. As a young man, Cobden was a successful commercial traveller who became co-owner of a highly profitable calico printing factory in Sabden but lived in Manchester, a city with which he would become strongly identified. However, he soon found himself more engaged in politics, and his travels convinced him of the virtues of free trade (anti-protection) as the key to better international relations. In 1838, he and John Bright founded the Anti-Corn Law League, aimed at abolishing the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners' interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread. As a Member of Parliament from 1841, he fought against opposition from the Peel ministry, and abolition was achieved in 1846. Another free trade initiative was the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty of 1860, promoting closer interdependence between Britain and France. This campaign was conducted in collaboration with John Bright and French economist Michel Chevalier, and succeeded despite Parliament's endemic mistrust of the French.

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Commemorated on 5 plaques

Richard Cobden 1804-1865 died here

23 Suffolk Street, London, United Kingdom where they died (1865)

Richard Cobden MP a pioneer of free trade lived here 1834-1843. Owens College (later Manchester University) occupied the building 1851-1873

County Court, Quay Street, Manchester, United Kingdom where they lived

On this site in the years 1844-1846 were situated the London offices of the Anti-Corn Law League, with which John Bright and Richard Cobden were so closely associated.

69 Fleet Street, EC4, London, United Kingdom where they worked (1844-1846)

Portico Library - 1806 Thomas Harrison architect (1744-1829) Richard Cobden John Dalton Elizabeth Gaskell Sir Robert Peel Thomas de Quincey Peter Mark Roget were readers here

Charlotte Street, Manchester, United Kingdom where they read

BULL'S HEAD Grade II listed building. The scene of radical political agitation. In the early 19th century radicals Henry 'Orator' Hunt, Fergus O'Connor and reformer Richard Cibden gave speeches here.

Market Place, Stockport, United Kingdom where they spoke