He entered in 1771 the secretary's office of the East India Company, in which he rose to the post of secretary. Cobb sent anonymously, for the benefit of Jane Pope, an occasional prologue, which was recited with some slight alteration by David Garrick, to whom it was submitted. For the benefit of the same lady he produced at Drury Lane, on 5 April 1779, his first dramatic piece, 'The Contract, or Female Captain,' which all the popularity of the actors could not galvanise into life, but which under the second title was acted at the Haymarket on 26 August 1780. This was followed by many operas, farces, preludes, and comedies, most of which are now largely forgotten. Such interest as any of Cobb's pieces possess arises generally from association with actors or composers. In the 'Humourist ', which owed its production to the application of Burke to Sheridan, John Bannister made a great hit as Dabble, a dentist. This piece was burned in the fire at Drury Lane in 1809. Genest, not too good-naturedly, says that if the whole of Cobb's pieces— about twenty-four in number— had shared the same fate, 'the loss would not have been very great.' In 'Strangers at Home,' an opera, with music by Linley, Dorothea Jordan is said to have made her first appearance as a singer, and to have played her first original character. 'Doctor and Apothecary,' a two-act musical farce, introduced to the London stage Stephen Storace, from whose 'Singspiele' 'Der Doctor und der Apotheker' performed at Vienna on 11 July 1786, music and plot were taken. 'The Haunted Tower', also with music by Stephen Storace, served for the debut in English opera of his sister, Anna Selina Storace. It was very successful, and frequently revived.
Works
The works of Cobb which were printed with his sanction are :
'English Readings,' an occasional prologue, 8vo, 1787.
'The First Floor,' farce, 8vo, 1787.
'Love in the East,' comic opera, 8vo, 1788.
'Doctor and Apothecary,' musical farce, 8vo, 1788.
'The Haunted Tower' opera, 1789
'Ramah Droog, or Wine does Wonders,' comic cpera, 8vo, 1800.
'A House to be sold,' musical piece in two acts, 8vo, 1802. This is a clumsy expansion of 'Maison a vendre,' a one-act opera of Duval, with music by D'Aleyrac, played in 1800.
'The Wife of Two Husbands,' musical drama, 8vo, 1803, a translation of 'La Femme a deux Maris' of Guilbert de Pixrcourt, Paris, 1803. Surreptitious editions were issued of the 'Cherokee,' opera, 1795, 8vo.
'Paul and Virginia,' musical drama, 12mo, 1801.
'Siege of Belgrade,' comic opera, 12mo, 1792, and other works.
'Kensington Gardens, or the Walking Jockey,' prelude, unmentioned by Genest.
'Hurly Burly,' a pantomime. In this Cobb was assisted by Thomas King the comedian.
'Poor Old Drury,' prelude.
'The Algerine Slaves,' a musical entertainment abridged from 'The Strangers at Home,' and given at the Haymarket Opera House in 1792.
'Algonah,' a comic opera.
'Sudden Arrivals ; or Too Busy by Half,' a comedy, making, with ' The Contract ' and ' The Humourist ' mentioned above, twenty-four works.
Besides the composers previously named, Joseph Mazzinghi, Kelly, and Dr. Arnold supplied music to Cobb's pieces. In Gifford's 'Mseviad' Cobbe is mentioned in contemptuous terms.
Family
Cobb married in 1800 Miss Stanfell of Fratton, Hampshire, and died in 1818.
