1929 The British Weekly editted by John A Hutton

The ''British Weekly: A Journal of Social and Christian Progress'' was a significant publication from its founding in 1886 well into the 20th century. One of the most successful religious newspapers of its time, it was published by Hodder & Stoughton. It was "a central force in shaping and promoting the '

Nonconformist conscience The Nonconformist conscience was the moralistic influence of the Nonconformist churches in British politics in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Moral outlook Historians group together certain historic Protestant groups in England as "Nonconfor ...

'", according to the ''Dictionary of Nineteenth-century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland''.

Foundation and influence

The founder and nominal editor was

William Robertson Nicoll Sir William Robertson Nicoll (10 October 18514 May 1923) was a Scottish Free Church minister, journalist, editor, and man of letters. Biography Nicoll was born in Lumsden, Aberdeenshire, the son of Rev. Harry Nicoll (1812–1891), a Free Chu ...

till his death in 1923, but the ''de facto'' editor was really his assistant Jane T. Stoddart. Her entry in the '' Dictionary of National Biography'' was prepared by none other than the ''DNB'' overall editor

Colin Matthew Henry Colin Gray Matthew (15 January 1941 – 29 October 1999) was a British historian and academic. He was an editor of the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' and editor of the diaries of William Ewart Gladstone. Early life Matthew wa ...

, who wrote that she: The biography of Nicoll in the 1911 ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' describes his publication as "a Nonconformist organ which obtained great influence over opinion in the free churches", i.e. those Christian denominations which are neither the established church (the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

) nor the

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Nicoll intended it to be the main vehicle for "liberal nonconformist opinion" and he succeeded in as much as the circulation numbers reached 100,000. A 2011 book entitled ''Voices of Nonconformity: William Robertson Nicoll and the British Weekly'' from

The Lutterworth Press The Lutterworth Press, one of the oldest independent British publishing houses, has traded since the late eighteenth century - initially as the Religious Tract Society (RTS). The Lutterworth imprint, named after the small English town of Lutte ...

sets out how Nicoll founded the paper in order to "introduce Nonconformist readers to the best in contemporary culture as well as promote a liberal political agenda". He followed stylistically in the footsteps of the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed in ...

'', "including interviews of prominent personalities, use of line illustrations and photographs, special supplements, investigative reporting, sensationalist headlines, and serialised debates". Nicoll "gave expression to the moderate '

', promoting religious equality and popular education." A review of this book in the '' Journal of Scottish Historical Studies'' describes the ''British Weekly'' as "one of the most successful religious newspapers of its time" and Nicoll as "a remarkable proponent of the 'New Journalism' and a major voice of the 'Nonconformist Conscience' in late Victorian Britain" (The phrase "

New Journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non- ...

" had been coined by

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lit ...

in 1887 to describe the sensational style of the ''Pall Mall Gazette'' and its

muck-raking The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...

editor W. T. Stead.) The biographer of

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

and publisher

Arthur Mee Arthur Henry Mee (21 July 187527 May 1943) was an English writer, journalist and educator. He is best known for ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'', '' The Children's Encyclopædia'', ''The Children's Newspaper'', and ''The King's England''. The ...

judges the ''British Weekly'' to have been the most influential of all of Britain's many religious newspapers.

Aftermath

The author of the 2011 book asserts that "''The British Weekly'' acquired the ''Christian World'' in the 1960s, but in the 1970s, it passed into the ownership of the Christian Weekly Newspapers, the publishers of the Church of England Newspaper." Another source mentions that its editorship moved from Edinburgh to London's Fleet Street in 1967, and in 1970 was sold. (Church of England newspaper 7 February 2014)

References

{{reflist Defunct magazines by country Christian magazines Nonconformism Victorian era Liberalism and religion