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

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

newspaper publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

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. The city's only mayor born outside of North America, Gales served from 1827 to 1830. Early life Joseph Gales Jr. was born in ...

Life in Britain

Gales was born in

Eckington, Derbyshire Eckington is a town 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, on the border with South Yorkshire. It lies on the B6052 and B6056 r ...

, 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 ...

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, 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 in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

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

Radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

causes, advocating

religious tolerance Religious tolerance or 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, ...

, Parliamentary

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

and the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

, and opposing

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and

bull-baiting Bull-baiting (or bullbaiting) is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs with the aim of attacking and subduing the bull by biting and holding onto its nose or neck, which often resulted in the death of the bull. History England ...

. 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 ...

, who encouraged him to found a radical

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 poli ...

. In June 1787, he began publishing the '' Sheffield Register'', initially in partnership with David Martin.

R. E. Leader Robert Eadon Leader (2 January 1839 – 18 April 1922) was a journalist, Liberal activist, and historian. He published many books on the history of the Sheffield area. He was the son of Robert Leader, Alderman and Town Trustee, and proprietor o ...

, ''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, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

. In 1789, Martin left the partnership. Gales' politics became more prominent. He welcomed the French Revolution, 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. 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 in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. 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 associatio ...

, began sitting on the Sheffield society's committee, and published the first cheap edition of Paine's '' Rights of Man''. 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 status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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 Cursive, longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Gr ...

and several languages. In 1795, he traveled to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

, bookkeeper and as a journalist covering the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

.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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

while suffering from yellow fever 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 United States Congress, Congress. He was the fifth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, speaker of the ...

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

, 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, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the repatriation of freeborn peop ...

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

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, 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 19th-century mayors of places in North Carolina 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 British emigrants to the United States

Life in Britain

Flight to Germany and United States

Political activity and journalism in America

See also

References

Further reading

External links