Tom Cobleigh
Tom Cobleigh (unknown – 1712) was a wealthy merchant from the Cobleigh family of Bristol, England, and a Templar affiliate.
Biography
Julian and the Cobleigh's held a deep-rooted rivalry with Edward Kenway, a young Welshman living in Harrington, near Bristol. In the summer of 1711, Julian, Tom, and Seth Cobleigh had a fight outside the Auld Shillelagh tavern with Edward, who was trying to defend a drunken woman called Rose from being abused sexually by Tom. Despite quickly gaining the upper hand, the trio were stopped by Rose's employer, Caroline Scott. Two days later, the group placed the bodies of two slaughtered kenway's own sheeps in front of the Kenways house in order to scare Edwards, who reacted badly to the provocation. But he was prevented from pursuing the men by his father who told him that the Cobleigh and many merchants of Bristol had joined the Trade Organisation, an association of tradesmen protected by "powerful men".
Sometimes later, in Bristol Harbour, Cobleigh witnessed Edward being thrown into the sea by Wilson, Matthew Hague's henchman, when the young man tried to court Hague's fiancee, Caroline Scott. Giving his hand to a disoriented Kenway in order to seemingly help him getting back on the docks, he punched him in the face with a smile, throwing him back into the sea. The rivalry between the Cobleigh's and Edward reached a head when Julian and Tom became involved in a plot to kill or otherwise remove Edward from the area after he had upset their Templar masters, Scott and Hague. In late 1712, Julian, Tom, and an hooded man wearing a Templar ring burned down the Kenway farmstead while Edward's parent were sleeping inside. Edward tried to stop them, managing to alert his parent of the danger, but the group pinned him to the ground, beating him and subsequently left.
Infuriated, Edward returned to the Auld Shillelagh, searching for the group and taking a sword from the wall. Once Julian, Tom and Seth stepped into the tavern, Edward ran Julian through with the sword, killing him before chasing the Cobleighs. Catching Seth, Kenway decided to spare Tom's son doubting he had taken part in the attack on his family, knocked him off and gave chase to Cobleigh through the farmlands. Kenway caught up with Cobleigh and disarmed him, but he was killed by the same hooded figure whom had stopped Julian from beating Kenway to death. The man then knocked off Kenway and took him to the Emperor, after having telling him than no more harm was to come to his family if he leaved Bristol for good.