Health of Towns Association Meeting, 1847 Wellcome V0036176

Charles Cochrane (1807-1855) was a Scottish author, campaigner for the poor in London in the 'hungry 40s' and, in the last years of his life, campaigner against Sunday trading. Cochrane was born in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, the son of

Basil Cochrane Basil Cochrane (22 April 1753 – 12 or 14 August 1826 in Paris, France) was a Scottish civil servant, businessman, inventor, and wealthy nabob of early-19th-century England. Early life The sixth son of Scottish nobleman and politician Thomas ...

who himself was the sixth son of Scottish nobleman and politician

Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald (1691 – 31 October 1778) was a Scottish nobleman, army officer and politician. He was Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire, 1722–1727. He served as Commissioner of the Excise for Scotland from 1730 u ...

. 1830 saw the publication of Cochranes' ''The Journal of a Tour Made by Senor Juan De Vega, the Spanish Minstrel of 1828-29'' which recounted Cochrane's tour of Britain and Ireland disguised as a Spanish minstrel, 'exploiting somewhat belatedly the sympathy felt for Spanish refugees after the French invasion of 1823'. Cochrane's ''Spanish Minstrel'' was satirised by

Henry Mayhew Henry Mayhew (25 November 1812 – 25 July 1887) was an English journalist, playwright, and advocate of reform. He was one of the co-founders of the satirical magazine ''Punch'' in 1841, and was the magazine's joint editor, with Mark Lemon, in ...

in his one act play ''The Wandering Minstrel''. After the introduction of the harsh poor laws of the 1830s Cochrane became increasingly concerned with responding in a practical way to poverty, deprivation and hunger in London. In 1842 he founded and became President of the National Philanthropic Association and in 1846 he founded the Poor Man's Guardian Society, 'instituted for the purpose of aiding the destitute in their approach for parochial relief, and for securing them the legal and humane dispensation of the Poor-law.' The society attempted to get the support of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

who was cautious in his response but did pay them a subscription of five guineas. The organisation described Charles Dickens as a vice-president. Cochrane became an increasingly prominent figure in London circles with his campaigns for the poor, advocating radical improvements in sanitation and public health. By 1848 the NPA had introduced a system of paid street cleaners to West Central London

References

1807 births 1855 deaths Scottish humanitarians Scottish reformers British social reformers 19th-century Scottish writers {{UK-activist-stub