Cobbett , William , 1763-1835 , political writer and farmer x Porcupine , Peter

William Cobbett was born in Farnham, Surrey, in 1863. He enlisted as a soldier, and was also a tutor before turning to political writing. He published pamphlets in both Britain and America, usually under the pan name of Peter Porcupine. He owned farms on both sides of the Atlantic. He espoused a mixture of radical and conservative views and was much concerned with rural distress and the state of English farming. He was briefly MP for Oldham, Lancashire, in the 1830s.