Gerard Francis Cobb (

Nettlestead, Kent Nettlestead is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the road south-west of, and part of the Districts of England, borough of Maidstone. The parish includes Nettlestead Green and part of Seven Mile Lane. More than 800 people l ...

, 15 October 1838 – 31 March 1904) was Junior Bursar of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He was active as an Anglican layman, organist and amateur composer.

Life

He was the fourth son of William Francis Cobb, rector of

, and was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

. He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1857, graduating B.A. in 1861 and M.A. in 1864. Cobb was an enthusiastic cyclist and was president of the Cambridge University Cycling Club. He was first president in 1878 of the

National Cyclists' Union The National Cyclists' Union (NCU) was an association established in the Guildhall Tavern, London, on 16 February 1878 as the Bicycle Union. Its purpose was to defend cyclists and to organise and regulate bicycle racing in Great Britain. It merge ...

, originally the Bicycle Union. He died in Cambridge on 31 March 1904.

Music

Cobb is best remembered for his hymns and settings of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's Barrack-Room Ballads. The poems set by Cobb include "To T. A." (1892), "The Young British Soldier" Op. 24 No. 1, "Mandalay", "Route Marchin’" "

Soldier, Soldier ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. Created by Lucy Gannon, produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 10 June 1991 to 9 December 1997. It fe ...

", "Fuzzy-Wuzzy" Op. 24 No. 5 (1892) "Troopin’", "Ford o' Kabul River" Op. 26 No. 2 (1893) "Danny Deever", "Shillin’ a Day" "Cells", "Belts Op. 29 No. 1" "The Widow's Party", "Screw-Guns", "Gunga Din" Op. 29 No. 4, "Oonts" Op. 29 No. 5, "

Snarleyow "Snarleyow" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling, published in late 1890. The title character was a horse that was part of a team pulling a gun. The poem is one of many Kipling wrote depicting the life of soldiers in the British army. It appears that this ...

" Op. 29 No. 6, "For to Admire", "Back to the Army Again", and "Tommy". These songs were recorded by Ralph Meanley (baritone) and David Mackie (piano) for Campion in 2007. A smaller selection including "Lichtenberg" (1904), was recorded by Michael Halliwell (baritone), David Miller (piano) for ABC Classics, Australia.

Family

Cobb married in 1893 Elizabeth Lucy, daughter of John Welchman Whateley, of Birmingham and widow of Stephen Parkinson, tutor of St John's College, Cambridge; she survived him without issue. He gave up his posts at Trinity on marrying.

References

External links

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, Gerard Francis 1838 births 1904 deaths Church of England hymnwriters Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Marlborough College