John Drakard (1775?–1854) was an English newspaper proprietor, publisher, and political radical, imprisoned for his journalism.
Life
He went into business at
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...
as a printer and book-seller at the beginning of the 19th century. On 15 September 1809 he started a weekly paper, the ''
Stamford News''.
['' Dictionary of National Biography'', Drakard, John (1775?–1854), newspaper proprietor and publisher, by G. F. R. Barker. Published 1888.] The first editor was the topographer
Thomas Blore
Thomas Blore (1754–1818) was an English topographer.
Life
Blore was born at Ashbourne, Derbyshire, on 1 December 1764. He received his education at the grammar school there, and afterwards became a solicitor at Derby. He then moved to Hopton ...
, but he and Drakard soon fell out.
On 13 March 1811 Drakard was tried at
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
before Baron
George Wood and a special jury on an ''ex officio'' information for libel, and was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment in Lincoln Castle, and fined £200. The subject matter of the libel was an article published in Drakard's paper for 24 August 1810, entitled "One Thousand Lashes", which dealt with the question of
corporal punishment in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. Drakard was defended by
Henry Brougham, but was convicted, even though the Hunts, proprietors of ''
The Examiner'', had been previously acquitted on the charge of libel for publishing most of the same article.
Drakard was a defendant in other libel suits.
He was
horsewhipped by
Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan
Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan (25 April 1760 – 14 August 1837) was an English peer and Member of Parliament.
Early life
Robert Brudenell was born in Westminster, the posthumous son and heir of Colonel the Hon. Robert Brudenell and h ...
for some remarks in the ''Stamford News''. Cardigan tracked him to
Northampton, and gave him a public whipping on the racecourse.
Drakard was also the proprietor of the ''
Stamford Champion'', a weekly newspaper which first appeared on 5 January 1830, under the name of the ''Champion of the East''.
The poet
John Clare
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...
wrote anonymous political satire in it.
In 1834 the publication of both his newspapers ceased, and Drakard retired to
Ripley, North Yorkshire
Ripley is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire in England, a few miles north of Harrogate on the A61 road towards Ripon. The village name derives from Old English and is believed to mean wood of the ''Hrype'' or Ripon people. Ripley w ...
, where he lived on a meagre income.
He died at
Ripon
Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...
on 25 January 1854, aged 79.
Works
The authorship of the two following works (both of which were published by him) has been attributed to Drakard, but it has also been doubted whether he had any part in their writing:
* ''Drakard's Edition of the Public and Private Life of Colonel Wardle. … Introduced by an original Essay on Reform'', &c., Stamford
810? On
Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle
Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle (c. 1762–1833) was a Welsh army officer and politician.
Early life
Born at Chester about 1762, he was the only son of Francis Wardle, J.P., of Hartsheath, near Mold, Flintshire, and Catherine, daughter of Richard Lloyd G ...
.
* ''The History of Stamford, in the County of Lincoln, comprising its ancient, progressive, and modern state; with an Account of St. Martin's, Stamford Baron, and Great and Little Wothorpe, Northamptonshire'', Stamford, 1822.
Octavius Graham Gilchrist is thought to have supplied much of the content.
References
External links
Libraries & Information, East Midlands, ''Drakard's Stamford News and General Advertiser''
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drakard, John
1775 births
1854 deaths
English publishers (people)
People from Stamford, Lincolnshire