Frances Power Cobbe
Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904) was an influential Irish writer and social reformer, known for her advocacy in women's rights, social justice, and animal welfare. Born in Dublin into a landed gentry family, Cobbe faced significant personal challenges, including an unhappy education and family conflicts regarding her evolving religious beliefs. After the death of her mother, she assumed domestic responsibilities while continuing her intellectual pursuits. Cobbe’s literary career began with her philosophical writings, including "Essay on Intuitive Morals," where she grappled with moral and theological questions.
Her most notable work, "Broken Lights," published in 1864, examined the responses of religious institutions to societal changes. Cobbe's activism extended to journalism, where she highlighted the struggles of the poor and the rights of abused women. Her 1878 article "The Truth on Wife Torture" significantly contributed to legal reforms for women's rights. A passionate advocate for suffrage, she dedicated her later years to the cause of women’s voting rights and animal rights, becoming a prominent voice against vivisection. Throughout her life, Cobbe shared a deep partnership with Mary Lloyd, supporting each other's advocacy. Cobbe's legacy remains significant in discussions of feminism and social reform.
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Subject Terms
Frances Power Cobbe
Social Worker
- Born: December 4, 1822
- Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
- Died: April 5, 1904
- Place of death: Wales
Biography
Frances Power Cobbe was born on December 4, 1822, in Dublin, Ireland. She was the youngest of five children of Charles Cobbe and Frances Conway Cobbe. The family belonged to the landed gentry. Charles Cobbe was an evangelical Christian who was known for being concerned about his tenants and for his strict moral principles. As was customary, Frances Power Cobbe was educated informally at home. When she was fourteen, her father sent her to a boarding school in Brighton where she was to learn to be a lady. She stayed there for two years, a period in which she was very unhappy and resisted acquiring the proper manners and decorum of a lady. At her insistence, her parents agreed to let her return home. Once home, she had to assume the duties of housekeeping and tending the villagers after her mother’s death in 1847. But she was also able to continue her study of history, literature, philosophy, and other subjects.
Shortly after her return home, she began to experience doubts and conflicts about religion. Her questions about religion caused serious conflicts with her father, and for a while she was banished to a remote part of Donegal. Her first written work was the result of her attempt to resolve her conflicting feelings about religion. From 1852 to 1855 she wrote Essay on Intuitive Morals, in which she discussed Kant’s theory of moral imperative and his theories on proving the existence God.
When her father died in 1857, she used her inheritance to travel for eleven months. She visited Italy, Greece, Jerusalem, and Egypt. Returning to Bristol, she worked for almost a year at a school for abandoned and delinquent children but was forced to quit for health reasons. During her convalescence she wrote Broken Lights, in which she dealt with the response of religious entities to social change. Published in 1864, this work was her most successful book. She continued her inquiry into religion in Dawning Lights, which she published in 1867. During this time she also worked as a journalist for a number of papers in order to support herself. She became more and more involved in issues of social reform, especially those concerning women and their children. She wrote articles on the suffering of the poor and of women who were victims of abuse. Her article “The Truth on Wife Torture,” written in 1878, resulted in legislation that allowed for legal separation for abused women. She was particularly committed to obtaining women’s right to vote, and she spoke and wrote on the issue of suffrage. From the 1870’s on she also advocated for animal rights and was a strong antivivisectionist. Cobbe had met Mary Lloyd, a woman who shared her views about animals, in 1860. Lloyd became Cobbe’s companion for the rest of her life, and the two lived in London for many years before moving to Wales in 1884. She died on April 5, 1904.