Determined to secure water rights for his brewery at Ipswich (named the Cliff Brewery) John Cobbold purchased the Holy Wells Estate in 1780, built a mansion on it and afterwards extended the boundaries of the property. The house was to witness the succession of five John Cobbolds in direct line, the last to live there being John Dupius Cobbold who died in June 1929. The sixth John Cobbold and his son, the seventh John Cobbold, now reside at Glemham Hall, ten miles distant from the old home of the family.
John Murray Cobbold (1897-1944) was killed when a flying bomb hit the Guards Chapel during Sunday morning service on 18th June 1944 and his son (the seventh) John Cavendish Cobbold (born 1927) died in 1983. Glemham Hall passed to younger brother Patrick Mark Cobbold (1934- 1994) and thence to the present owner Philip Hope-Cobbold.
From the Tostock yeoman farmer sprang a dynasty as proud of its history and of its family as any that ruled an empire. The traditional line of descent was rigidly maintained, the eldest son automatically inheriting the major portion of his father's estate. The records of the family prove that its strength has never diminished, and that the attributes of business flair, foresight, and rigid rectitude have been passed down from one generation to the next.
In course of time, the original brewery was replaced with one fitted out with all the most approved appliances and constructed by the Cobbold staff from the Cliff building yard. The resources of the river were developed and the Cobbold docks, warehouses and maltings spread out over ground which had originally contained riverside gardens and merchants' houses. The Cobbolds grew with the growth of Ipswich, which they assisted to grow. As Punch pertinently put it:
Why is Ipswich like an old shoe?
Because it is Cobbold all over.
3.
On 17th October 1831, Mrs Bowditch Lee wrote to a young lady about to take her place as a governess in John Cobbold's family. She gave vivid little character sketches of every member of the family, and of the master of the house she wrote:
'Mr Cobbold is a fine, handsome man, between 50 and 60, full of native talent and shrewdness, abounding in kindness, liberality and generosity, indulgent to his children, full of honourable and manly feelings, and replete with that excellent quality, common sense'.
Of Mrs Cobbold, Mrs Lee wrote:
'Mrs Cobbold, who must have been beautiful, is a stout little woman, with a countenance beaming benignity … her whole life is spent in doing kind actions to others, or trying to do so … there is not a creature that she ever heard of that she does not wish to make happy. Having reared fourteen children, all of whom are living, you will readily suppose that her energy of character and her bodily activity have been constantly called into action'.
At this time the eldest son, John, was 'High Bailiff and a lawyer in great practice'; the second son, Henry, 'is a complete contrast to Mr John. He tries to hide a great deal of good and fine feeling under a blunt and rough manner …'; a married daughter is 'a charming person, full of talent, taste and kindness'; and Frank is a 'perfect hero in person, and is highly gifted with ability and taste, and he is a good conscientious clergyman ….'
Mrs Bowditch Lee goes on to list and describe in detail other members of the family, thus: 'Mrs David Hanbury, another married daughter, is an elegant-looking, handsome woman ….'; 'Kate is one of the sweetest, the mildest and best human beings ….'; 'Agnes is beautiful and extraordinarily gifted in every respect ….'; 'Emily is not so handsome, but quite enough to turn a person's head ….'; 'Harriet is a dear pale, black-eyed, silk-ringletted girl, bounding about like an antelope ….'; and 'Kate is engaged, but obstacles exist at present on the side of the gentleman's family'.
The youngest of the family was Arthur, then aged 15 and at school at Boulogne. He was the seventh son and was to become the father of Francis Edward Cobbold, whose career is to follow.
4.
A picture of Francis Cobbold's father Arthur, made during the closing years of his life, shows a strong family likeness to his ancestors - the same strength of mind and the same physical strength, the same determined jaw, and the same facial sternness when in repose - a sternness somewhat belied by the straight nose and the widely placed eyes. Born in 1815, he lived to reach his eighty-third year - longevity being another feature of his forebears.
In due time he married Sarah Elliston who, like her husband, lived to a ripe age and reached her eight-sixth year. They had ten children, the subject of this biography being the eighth child and, as mentioned earlier, the seventh son.
The Ellistons were a yeoman family of Suffolk - the earliest recalled being Robert Elliston of Monks Eleigh - and more than one member of this family distinguished himself. One of Sarah Elliston's uncles was a naval lieutenant under Admiral Boscawen when he defeated the French fleet off Gibraltar in 1759; he had reached the rank of Commander when he retired. Another uncle - William Elliston - was a member of St. John's College, Cambridge, receiving his degree in 1754 with the distinction of fourth wrangler and in 1760 he was elected Master of Sidney Sussex College, a post he held until 1807.
Yet another uncle, Robert William Elliston, was a comedian-actor, manager who was at one time the proprietor of Drury Lane Theatre. Of him it was said: 'He had never been excelled and seldom equalled'.
Issue 18 of Phaeon, the Sidney Sussex Newsletter, described William Elliston as 'the Master from 1760 to 1807 who transformed the College into a place of high standing in the University after a hundred years in the shade'
5.
It can never be fully established that the seventh son of a seventh son is definitely lucky. After all, luck is much less a matter of chance than the result of long planning, and the sense to take a firm hold on an opportunity before it passes by. It is also preferable to be born lucky than to be born rich - this truth may be illustrated by the incident of Francis Edward Cobbold's visit to the engine house of the Old Colchester Brewery at the early age of seven.
The main reason for the visit was the coldness of the east wind and the warmth of the air coming out through the open door. Once they arrived, however, the great attraction was the gleaming engine flywheel turning at high speed. For several moments Francis stood still and silent and partly hypnotised by the revolving metal. Then a strong draught of air blew through a second door, and whisked the ends of the scarf wound about his neck against the lynch pin of the wheel. To the child, time ceased to be. He watched the woollen strands revolving with the wheel shaft, saw how they were twisted round and round like the strands of a rope, and he saw how the rope of his scarf tautened, grew rapidly shorter and then began to drag him towards the wheel. There would have been no subsequent career to record if the engineer in charge had not come in at that moment, sprang to the boy's side and, with superhuman strength, torn the scarf away from the ponderous revolving mass of metal.
In 1860, when Mr Arthur Cobbold and his family were living near the little village of Waldringfield, ten miles from Ipswich, Francis attended a dame's school. From there he went on to an Academy kept by Mr Frost and his sister at Colchester and, at the age of eleven, he joined his brother Fred at Colchester Grammar School, which at that time was run by Doctor Wright, DCD assisted by Doctor Bates (the Classics Master), Mr Harrison (the English Master), Herr Gunst (the German Master), Sergeant Atkins, who instructed