Talk:Margaret Catchpole

Dubious "facts"

Much of the article is wrong or misleading. It appears to treat Cobbold's novel as fact (yes I know he said it was all true, but it was a novel!) For a start, she wasn't born in Nacton. I'll do some checking of sources. Bluewave 14:50, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

I endorse the above comment. Yet another book about Margaret Catchpole has been published (Scapegallows by Carol Birch, Virago Press 2007) using the material from the original 1845 novel by Richard Cobbold as the basis for her "true story".

The real Margaret Catchpole was nothing like the figure portrayed by Cobbold. He constructed an entirely fictitious family for her and none of the smuggling connection had any basis in reality.

The real Margaret Catchpole was the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Catchpole, born at Brandeston Suffolk on 14th March 1762. The identity of her father is unknown. Her baptismal entry appears in the register of Hoo Parish Church. She was rejected for some reason by her mother and brought up by her mother's sister Sarah Leader (the aunt Leader of the Cobbold book). No documentary evidence has ever been found about her life from her baptism to her arrest for stealing John Cobbold's horse in 1797. Her first trial for horse theft, her conviction and sentence to hang and its commutation ; her escape from Ipswich Gaol and subsequent capture; her second trial, conviction, capital sentence, further commutation and transportation to New South Wales were all covered in contemporary editions of the Suffolk Journal, a weekly newspaper published in Ipswich, and the Bury (St. Edmunds) Post.

There are several documentary references to her during her life (unmarried) in New South Wales and the entry for her death appears in the register of St John's Church Richmond NSW but the most important documents that survive are her original letters home to her Aunt Howes (another sister of her mother) and Elizabeth Cobbold. These are now shared between the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales. They are written in a phonetic style of English and when read aloud impart her strong Suffolk accent. They are possibly some of the most important convict documents from the whole of the transportation period.

I'm sorry to disillusion those who find the smuggling and romantic connection so beguiling but a study of the real Margaret Catchpole would show her to be far more interesting than the two dimensional character portrayed by Cobbold.

I'm not in a position at the moment to re-write the whole article in Wikipedia but hope to do so over the next few months.

Rjukanboy (talk) 00:32, 25 December 2007

Yes! Given that Cobbold invented her birth date, parents and later husband, you really can't rely on anything he said without checking it against another source. As you say, the Suffolk/Ipswich Journal is a great source for events in the East Anglia part of the story. Suffolk Record Office has an index to the Journal, which (I think) covers the period in question. Bluewave (talk) 19:42, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

I have done a quick review of the article adding an note of uncertainty to some claims and removing others. PeterEastern (talk) 16:55, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

Fact or Fiction

It says she was married in 1812 but wrote that she was unmarried in 1811. How does that preclude marriage in 1812? 86.139.161.23 (talk) 00:35, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

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