''Rural Rides'' is the book for which the English

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the Agricultural science, science, practice, and management of Farming, agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, ...

and political reformer

William Cobbett William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an Agrarianism, agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restr ...

is best known. At the time of writing in the early 1820s, Cobbett was a radical anti- Corn Law campaigner, newly returned to England from a spell of self-imposed political exile in the United States. Cobbett disapproved of proposals for remedies for agricultural distress suggested in Parliament in 1821. He made up his mind to see rural conditions for himself, and to "enforce by actual observation of rural conditions" the statements he had made in answer to the arguments of the landlords before the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee. He embarked on a series of journeys by horseback through the countryside of Southeast England and the

English Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshi ...

. He wrote down what he saw from the points of view both of a farmer and a social reformer. The result documents the early 19th-century countryside and its people, as well as giving free vent to Cobbett's opinions. He first published his observations in serial form in the ''

Political Register The ''Cobbett's Weekly Political Register'', commonly known as the ''Political Register'', was a weekly London-based newspaper founded by William Cobbett in 1802. It published continuously until Cobbett's death in 1836. History Originally propou ...

'', between 1822 and 1826. Four rides – from 1822, 1823, 1825 and 1826 – were first published in book form in two volumes in 1830. In 1853, his son James published an expanded edition, including rides from 1821, as well as his father's 1830–32 political tours to the Midlands, North and Scotland.

Editions

*Penguin Classics; new edition (27 Sep 2001) . Introduction and notes by

Ian Dyck Ian Dyck (23 July 1954 – 15 July 2007) was a Canadian historian noted for his work on William Cobbett, an English radical journalist and politician. Dyck contributed Cobbett's biography to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Dyck w ...

. *Constable; abridged hardcover edition (Sep 1982) . Introduction by E. R. Chamberlain. *J. M. Dent & Sons; Everyman's Library (1912), reprinted 1924 and 1953, ASIN B00085HPA0. Introduction by Edward Thomas. *J. M. Dent & Sons; Everyman's Library (1912), reprinted 1957, Introduction by

Asa Briggs Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his lon ...

. *''Rural Rides in the Counties of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire...''. Original publication by Cobbett, 1830 and 1853.

External links

*
William Cobbett – Rural Rides – UK Parliament – Living HeritageRural Rides, volume 1
– complete text from the Internet Archive
Rural Rides, volume 2
– complete text from the Internet Archive * *An edited (censored) text o
''Rural Rides''
on ''A Vision of Britain through Time'', with links to the places mentioned by Cobbett.

at Geography Department, Portsmouth University. {{Authority control Books about cultural geography Political books Agriculture books 1830 non-fiction books British books Books about England