On Friday January 9th 2026, at 8:00 pm in the Tindle Studio, Maltings, Farnham, a packed audience was delighted to attend a talk from Emma Griffin, Professor of Modern British History at Queen Mary University of London, recently President of the Royal Historical Society, and author of five books. Professor Griffin gave a highly stimulating talk entitled “Cobbett’s England and the Industrial Revolution: Why the West grew Rich”.  She explained how England’s openness to new inventions contrasted to the more negative European protectionism from the guilds or fears for social disruption from the aristocracy. Thus, inventions such as the spinning Jenny, which largely predated the expansion of trade that came with Empire, were readily taken up and put to use on home grown textiles. Britain also responded to the opening up of the New World in distinct ways, setting up colonies while others were content merely with new trade routes. This again, allowed new lands to be exploited by British settlers, who then produced raw materials to feed industrial production back home. This latter fact alone opened doors for Cobbett who benefitted from travel to and residence in America. Professor Griffin also made the point that much that Cobbett did was made possible by Britain’s comparative openness to free speech. A highly stimulating talk which prompted enthusiastic questions from the audience.