Who was Margaret Catchpole

Catchpole, Margaret (1762-1819)

 

 

WHO WAS MARGARET CATCHPOLE

Margaret Catchpole was a real person and the heroine of a book published in 1845, by the Rev Richard Cobbold which was part fact, part fiction and brought her celebrity status. The title was The History of Margaret Catchpole. She was a local girl born on 14 March 1762, probably at Hoo, near Wickham Market. Her early years were spent at what is now known as Alnesbourne Priory Farm in nearby Nacton. At the age of 14 she rode a horse into Ipswich to fetch Doctor Stebbings to attend the farmer’s wife who had been suddenly taken ill. 

Later the doctor recommended her to Mrs Elizabeth Cobbold, of Cliff House, which stood on the site of the old Cobbold Brewery at the lower end of Cliff Lane and she became a favourite servant in her household. Once she rescued a drowning child from a pond and she was also involved in other heroic deeds. Mrs Cobbold taught Margaret to read and write. As a teenager she fell in love with local smuggler Will Laud and together they had many adventures. Following a series of escapades evading the law Will went into hiding in London in to avoid arrest. A message soon reached Margaret and she dressed inconspicuously as a man and taking her employer’s strawberry roan set off to join him. The horse was recognised as she passed through Colchester and she was arrested at Romford, where she arrived after ten hours in the saddle. The Cobbolds were horrified when they realised their devoted servant risked the death sentence and tried their best to withdraw the charges. At the trial at Bury St Edmunds in 1797 Margaret to everyone’s consternation pleaded guilty and she was sentenced to death. However, the judge was so impressed with her story and the public opinion in her favour, he commuted the sentence to seven years transportation. Margaret languished in Ipswich Prison for the next two years, probably due to the Cobbolds using their influence to keep her in the area. Then in a turn of fate Will found himself in the same prison and together they plotted their future. Will was released and their plan was put into action. Margaret scaled the wall dressed as a sailor and together they fled to the coast hoping to sail to Holland. Upon reaching the beach the excise men ambushed them and Will was killed in the fight. Margaret was returned to prison to await her fate. No official record survives of his death. In her second trial she was sentenced to death, where despite his anger, the judge came under her spell once again and commuted the sentence to transportation for life. 

In 1801 she arrived in Australia with all the courage and resourcefulness she had shown in Suffolk. Margaret settled in the Richmond area on the Hawkesbury River, close to Sydney, and soon became a respectable member of the community. She was pardoned in 1814, but never returned to England. Margaret had a small farm, ran a shop and was well known as a local midwife. She never married, although Rev Cobbold,s book has a somewhat different ending, she eventually died on 13 May 1819 of influenza and was buried in Richmond NSW. Several of her letters home to Suffolk contain vivid descriptions and are an important record of life of the early settlers in Australia. They can be viewed in Christchurch Mansion Museum and the Ipswich Record Office, plus there are several interesting books and websites outlining her life story. 

It is wonderful to know Margaret was involved in several heroic deeds and adventures in and around the area and it is certainly possible that she actually walked on the land the Bowls Club now occupies.

There are several books, plays and a film depicting Margaret’s life and times and details can be found below

 

BOOKS ABOUT THE LIFE OF MARGARET CATCHPOLE

 The History of Margaret Catchpole A Suffolk Girl Author The Rev. Richard Cobbold Published 1845

The True Story of Margaret Catchpole   Author G.B Barton Published1924

 Margaret Catchpole The Girl from Wolfkettel   Author George Goldsmith Carter Published 1949

The Extraordinary Margaret Catchpole  Aurhor Ruth Manning-Sanders Published 1966

Margaret Catchpole  Author Nance Donkin Published 1973 ISBN 0001850040 

Snuggler’s Girl: Extrordinary Story of Margaret Catchpole   Author Sally Harris Published 1990 ISBN: 10 18711730

Margaret Catchpole The Hawkesbury’s Convict Midwife  Author Laurie Chater Forth 2006 ISBN: 0 646 46401 9

Scapegallows,  Author Carol Birch, Published 2007 ISBN: 184408390X

A Picture History of Margaret Catchpole Richard Cobbold Edited by Pip Wright 2009 ISBN: 978-0-9548298-8-9

 Margaret Catchpole Her Life and Her Letter  Author Laurie Chater Forth Published 2012 ISBN;978 0 646 56511 8

Margaret Catchpole    Author Aileen Plucker Published 2019 ISBN: 10 09925318

  

  FILM ABOUT MARGARET CATCHPOLE

The Romantic Story of Margaret Catchpole is a 1911 Australian silent film, directed by Raymond Longford and starring Lottie Lyell. Only part of the movie survives today.

Link to the You Tube video   https://youtu.be/lU37xTZZyAc

 

PLAYS ABOUT MARGARET CATCHPOLE

 Margaret Catchpole The   Heroine of Suffolk by Edward Sterling  1845

Cobbold's book was adapted into an 1887 play, An English Lass, starring Lily Dampier as Catchpole. This play formed the basis of the 1912 film The Romantic Story of Margaret Catchpole  which starred Lottie Lyell in the title role.

Cobbold's book was also adapted into a libretto by Ronald Fletcher which was set to music as the opera "Margaret Catchpole: Two Worlds Apart" by British composer Stephen Dodgson in 1979

Margaret Catchpole – Eastern Angles 2000

 Margaret Down Under -  Eastern Angles’  2004

 

This is a You Tube article about Margaret Catchpole.  As in all books , plays and articles about Margaret the full truth is not really fully know        https://youtu.be/N30OcJSZtak?si=e74Z8CIWfowfiWOt