History group drops plans to celebrate works of William Cobbett over antisemitism concerns

A history group has reportedly dropped plans to celebrate the works of a 19th-century political commentator after his books were found to contain a slew of antisemitic views, blaming the economic crisis of the time on “Jewish money”.

Hyde900, a history group based in Winchester, had planned to commemorate the writer William Cobbett (1763-1835) on the 200th anniversary of the publication of his book Rural Rides, but the group has pulled out.

The book chronicles his views on the agricultural crises of the 1820s England, which he blames on “Jewish money” in the City.

Founder Edward Fennell, said: “Within Rural Rides there were a number of gratuitous antisemitic and racist comments which seemed at odds with Cobbett’s generally ‘progressive’ opinions [and] organisers thought that they needed to be investigated further. As a result, it was decided that it could not be justified to hold an event which, as one person observed, ‘put him on a pedestal’.”