Editing William Cobbett (section)

==Early life (1763–1791)==
[[File:Farnham Cobbett's birthplace.JPG|250px|thumb|left|William Cobbett's birthplace]]
William Cobbett was born in Farnham, Surrey, on 9 March 1763, the third son of George Cobbett, a farmer and publican, and Anne Vincent.<ref name="ODNB">[[Ian Dyck]], '[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/5734 Cobbett, William (1763–1835)]', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 23 July 2011.</ref> He was taught to read and write by his father and he started working from an early age. He later said: "I do not remember a time when I did not earn my living. My first occupation was driving small birds from the turnip seed, and the rooks from the peas."<ref>Daniel Green, ''Great Cobbett: The Noblest Agitator'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 18–19.</ref><ref name="colegdh">G. D. H. Cole, ''The Life of William Cobbett'' (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1971), pp. 16-18.</ref> He worked as a farm labourer at [[Farnham Castle]],<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', p. 38.</ref><ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', p. 16.</ref> and also worked briefly as a gardener in the King's garden at [[Kew Gardens|Kew]].<ref name="Clifford-Smith, S. 2008, pp. 4–6">S. Clifford-Smith, "William Cobbett: cottager's friend", ''Australian Garden History'', 19 (5), 2008, pp. 4–6.</ref><ref name="colegdh" /> His rural upbringing gave him a lifelong love of [[gardening]] and [[hunting]].<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 19, 21 and 30.</ref>

[[File:The life of William Cobbett - written by himself. No 2' (William Cobbett) by James Gillray.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Cartoon of Cobbett enlisting in the army. From the ''[[Political Register]]'' of 1809. Artist [[James Gillray]].]]
On 6 May 1783, he took a stage coach to London and spent eight or nine months as a clerk in the employ of a Mr. Holland at [[Gray's Inn]].<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 41–42.</ref><ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', pp. 22–23.</ref> He joined the [[54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot]] in 1783. In his spare time, he improved his knowledge of English grammar.<ref name="ODNB" /><ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 48–49.</ref> Between 1785 and 1791, Cobbett was stationed with his regiment in [[New Brunswick]] and sailed from [[Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend]] in Kent to [[City of Halifax|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]]. Cobbett was in [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]], [[Fredericton]] and elsewhere in New Brunswick until September 1791, as he was promoted through the ranks to [[sergeant major]], the most senior rank of [[non-commissioned officer]].

Cobbett returned to Britain with his regiment, landing at [[Portsmouth]] on 3 November 1791. He obtained his discharge from the army on 19 December 1791. In [[Woolwich]] during February 1792, he married an American-born woman, Anne Reid (1774–1848), whom he had met while stationed at [[Fort Howe]] in Saint John.<ref>[[John Robert Colombo]] ''Canadian Literary Landmarks'' p. 47.</ref><ref>[http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=810d2953–1fd0-4625-b956-717ad9be3568 Jenny's Spring].</ref> Their children were Anne (1795–1877), William (1798–1878), [[John Morgan Cobbett|John]] (1800–1877), James Paul (1803–1881), Eleanor (1805–1900), and Susan (1807–1889).<ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', p. 437.</ref> Their daughter [[Anne Cobbett]] was the author of several domestic books including ''The English Housekeeper: The Manual of Domestic Management.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cobbett |first=Anne |title=The English Housekeeper: The Manual of Domestic Management |year=1851 |publication-date=2017}}</ref>

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