A Picture History of Margaret Catchpole

In February 1845, the Ipswich Journal and Suffolk Chronicle carried an advert for a new publication, ‘The History of Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk Girl.’ In three volumes and priced initially at one guinea, the book promised to tell the remarkable story of a girl whose name was still familiar to many in the Ipswich area, even though she had been transported to Australia nearly half a century earlier. The author was the Rev. Richard Cobbold, Rector of Wortham. A set of 33 watercolours had been painted by him to serve as illustrations for the book, but few of these pictures were ever used and they were rarely reproduced in colour. These pictures remained lost to public view for over a century. Recently, they have been acquired by the Cobbold Family History Trust. Now, for the first time, this book gives lovers of Margaret’s story the chance to see her and her colourful life as her author intended. 

Pip Wright, author of a number of books about Suffolk has significantly reduced the text to enable the story to be told as much through the pictures as the words. Until recently, these charming illustrations lay lost, but thanks to the Cobbold Family History Trust, they have now been saved for the nation, and made available to all through this book. (130 pages, 50 pictures)

‘A Picture History of Margaret Catchpole’ by Richard Cobbold & Pip Wright
ISBN 978-0-9548298-8-9   Price:  £7.95 (+ £2 post & packing)