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Margaret Catchpole: a “fallen woman”? |
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Rewriting history?
An edition of Cobbold's book
© Courtesy of Ed Broon, freston.net |
The first main text recounting Margaret’s colourful life – 'The History of Margaret Catchpole: A Suffolk Girl' - was published in 1847 by the Reverend Richard Cobbold, son of Margaret’s former mistress. Cobbold based his work in part on Margaret’s letters from Australia, and is always at pains to assure the reader of the truth of his work, which he describes as a “romantic but perfectly true narrative”.
Certainly, a comparison of the text and letters shows a degree of accuracy and faithfulness to Margaret’s own words, however, there are also numerous inconsistencies and apparent fictions in Cobbold’s work – even such basic information as her date of birth is wrong. Cobbold says Margaret was born in 1773, whilst the newspaper reports of her escape put her at 38 years old in 1800 - perhaps Cobbold thought a younger heroine would be more attractive to his readers!
Cobbold is also guilty of more fundamental romanticising and distortion of fact. He concludes his story by having his heroine marry a former suitor from Suffolk, and becoming a loving mother of three children. But, in reality, Margaret herself expressed a desire to remain single, writing in 1811 “I am not [married] and almost 50 years old, nor do I intend”. It seems the conclusion to Cobbold’s “history” was born more from a desire to present Margaret in a particular light than from any real adherence to the truth.
A cautionary tale
A romanticised Margaret
© Courtesy of Suffolk Record Office, ref S823COB |
In his “history” of Margaret Catchpole, Cobbold wrote with a specific purpose: to provide an “instructive lesson” about the importance of religious instruction in preventing the human mind falling into “error”. It was common practice in this period to use the histories of criminals as an example for others, and stories from the scaffold and court room were often printed as cautionary tales.
In order to create a suitable moral fable, however, it seems Cobbold distorted Margaret’s story, casting her in the role of “fallen woman” - a familiar figure in Victorian literature – first brought down by “evil men” and later redeemed by religion, motherhood, and the love of a good man.
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