Author: Cobb, James
Biography:
COBB, James (c. 1756-1818: ancestry.co.uk)
He was a prolific writer of songs particularly for the Drury Lane theatre but that was a sideline: his main occupation was as a secretary for the East India Office. His birth year is usually given as 1756 and he may have been the son of John and Ann Cobb who was baptised at Saint Paul, Covent Garden, London, on 21 Feb. 1756. His will establishes that he had a brother, John Cobb; a sister, Ann Crawford; and five nieces. He entered the East India Office in 1771 and was appointed company secretary in 1814. His will refers to his “dear wife Mary Cobb” and ODNB states that he married Mary Starfell (really Stanfell) on 28 Dec. 1799 in Portsea, Hampshire. Mary Stanfell was born in 1778 but the marriage record also gives the groom’s age as 21; either this refers to the groom being at least “full age” (21) for marriage, or the record concerns a different James Cobb. His will establishes that they had no surviving children. Cobb’s first dramatic piece, The Contract, or Female Captain, was produced at Drury Lane on 5 Apr. 1779. He subsequently published twenty-four works, mainly comic operas and musical pieces, and collaborated with a number of composers; typically he published both the complete work and, separately, the songs. He was living at Russell Square, London, as the time of his death; the exact date is not known but his will was proved on 6 July 1818. It provided for his wife and left his books, manuscripts, music, and pianoforte to his brother. (ODNB 15 Jan. 2024; DNB; ancestry.co.uk 15 Jan. 2024; findmypast.co.uk 15 Jan. 2024; National Archives UK PROB 11/1606/78) SR