Joseph Gales (4 February 1761 – 21 July 1841) was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

newspaper publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and political figure. He was the father of the younger

Joseph Gales Joseph Gales Jr. (June 15, 1786 – July 21, 1860) was an American journalist and the ninth mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1827 to 1830. He was the only Mayor born outside the United States or the American colonies. Early life Joseph Gales Jr ...

Life in Britain

Gales was born in

Eckington, Derbyshire Eckington is a village and civil parish in North East Derbyshire, England. It is 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Chesterfield and 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Sheffield city centre, on the border with South Yorkshire. It lies on the B60 ...

, in England to Timothy Gales and Sarah (Clay). He left to undertake a

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, but left after he was attacked by his master's wife. Soon after, he completed his apprenticeship with James Tomlinson in Newark, Nottinghamshire. While in Newark, he married Winifred Marshall, a novelist and political writer."Gales, Joseph", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' In 1784, Gales moved to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Shortly after moving to Sheffield, he became a Unitarian, and took up various

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

causes, advocating

religious tolerance Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

, Parliamentary

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

and the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, and opposing

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

bull-baiting Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs. History England Crowds in London during the Royal Entry of James VI and I in March 1604 were entertained by bull-baiting. During the time of Queen Anne, bull-baiting was p ...

. Gales met

Tom Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

, who encouraged him to found a radical

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

. In June 1787, he began publishing the ''

Sheffield Register The ''Sheffield Iris'' was an early weekly newspaper published on Tuesdays James Montgomery, John Holland and James Everett, ''Memoirs of the Life and Writings of James Montgomery'' in Sheffield, England. The first newspaper to be published in S ...

'', initially in partnership with David Martin. R. E. Leader, ''Reminiscences of Sheffield'' The newspaper focussed on reporting local news, and on reprinting tracts by reformers such as Paine and

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

. In 1789, Martin left the partnership. Gales' politics became more prominent. He welcomed the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, acclaiming the victory of "our French brethren over despots and despotism". He marked this by roasting an ox and carrying it in a procession through the town which was fired on by local authorities. Gales was a founding member of the

Sheffield Society for Constitutional Information Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. This was established in 1791, and with the support of Gales' newspaper, had over 2,000 members by the following year. It sent out "missionaries" to establish similar groups in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. From 1792, troops were permanently billeted in Sheffield, and regular clashes took place on the streets. Gales established a fortnightly journal, the ''Sheffield Patriot'', which explored political issues in more depth than the ''Register''. He also established contact with the

London Corresponding Society The London Corresponding Society (LCS) was a federation of local reading and debating clubs that in the decade following the French Revolution agitated for the democratic reform of the British Parliament. In contrast to other reform associati ...

, began sitting on the Sheffield society's committee, and published the first cheap edition of Paine's ''

Rights of Man ''Rights of Man'' (1791), a book by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. Using these points as a base it defends the ...

''. In 1794, the Government began arresting leaders of the Corresponding Societies, and Gales wrote articles decrying this. Gales was suspected of writing a letter offering to sell

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

s to the London society, but was on business in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

when troops arrived to arrest him.

Flight to Germany and United States

Now alarmed as to his safety, Gales published his final issue of the ''Register'', noting that "convinced that by ruining my family and distressing my friends by risking either, would only gratify the ignorant and malignant, I shall seek that livelihood in another land which I cannot peaceably gain in this." He then fled to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in Germany. Winifred remained behind to sell the ''Register'' to James Montgomery before joining her husband. Gales spent his time in Europe learning

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

and several languages. In 1795, he traveled to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

, bookkeeper and as a journalist covering the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

.Folk and Shaw. ''W. W. Holden: a Political Biography''. p. 13. He then established the ''Independent Gazetteer'' newspaper.

Political activity and journalism in America

He moved to

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

while suffering from

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

at the encouragement of

Nathaniel Macon Nathaniel Macon (December 17, 1757June 29, 1837) was an American politician who represented North Carolina in both houses of Congress. He was the fifth speaker of the House, serving from 1801 to 1807. He was a member of the United States House of ...

and other political figures. In October 1799, Gales published the first issue of his ''

Raleigh Register ''The Register-Herald'' is six-day morning daily newspaper, Monday thru Friday with a Weekend Edition delivered on Saturday mornings and is based in Beckley, West Virginia, and also covering surrounding communities in Fayette, Greenbrier, Ralei ...

''. The paper, which continued after his death in the hands of his family, was influential throughout the state for the next sixty years. It became well known as a Whig-supporting paper.Folk and Shaw. ''W. W. Holden: a Political Biography''. p. 12. From 1819 to 1833, Gales served as "intendant of police," or

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, of Raleigh. He was also an officer in the local chapter of the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

,Robert N. Elliott.
From Dictionary of North Carolina Biography
' and acted as state printer. In his later years, Gales moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and became treasurer of the National Colonization Society. Gales returned to Raleigh in 1839. He was again elected mayor in January 1840 and held the office until his death in 1841. He is buried in Raleigh's City Cemetery.

References

External links

North Carolina Historical Marker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gales, Joseph 1761 births 1841 deaths American publishers (people) American male journalists English male journalists People from Eckington, Derbyshire Mayors of Raleigh, North Carolina Burials at City Cemetery (Raleigh, North Carolina) English male non-fiction writers

Life in Britain

Flight to Germany and United States

Political activity and journalism in America

See also

References

Further reading

External links