''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 7 February 1865 by

George Murray Smith George Murray Smith (19 March 1824 – 6 April 1901) was a British publisher. He was the son of George Smith (1789–1846), who, with Alexander Elder (1790–1876), started the Victorian publishing firm of Smith, Elder & Co. in 1816. His br ...

; its first editor was

Frederick Greenwood Frederick Greenwood (25 March 1830 – 14 December 1909) was an English journalist, editor, and man of letters. He completed Elizabeth Gaskell's novel ''Wives and Daughters'' after her death in 1865. Early years Born in Kensington, London, he w ...

. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed into ''

The Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after bei ...

'' in 1923. Beginning late in 1868, at least through the 1880s, a selection or digest of its contents was published as the weekly ''

Pall Mall Budget The ''Pall Mall Budget'' was a weekly magazine published in London from 1868 until 1920. It was a weekly digest of articles from evening newspaper ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' (1865 to 1923). The ''Pall Mall Budget'' was re-launched in 1893 by Will ...

''.

History

''The Pall Mall Gazette'' took the name of a fictional newspaper conceived by

W. M. Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and ...

. Pall Mall is a street in London where many gentlemen's clubs are located, hence Thackeray's description of this imaginary newspaper in his novel ''

The History of Pendennis ''The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy'' (1848–50) is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. It is set in 19th-century England, particularly in London. The main ...

'' (1848–1850):

We address ourselves to the higher circles of society: we care not to disown it—''The Pall Mall Gazette'' is written by gentlemen for gentlemen; its conductors speak to the classes in which they live and were born. The field-preacher has his journal, the radical free-thinker has his journal: why should the Gentlemen of England be unrepresented in the Press?

Under the ownership of George Smith of Smith, Elder & Co. from 1865 to 1880, with Frederick Greenwood as editor, ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

newspaper. Greenwood resigned in 1880, when the paper's new owner (Smith's new son-in-law, Henry Thompson) wished for it to support the policies of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Taking all the staff with him, Greenwood became the editor of the newly-founded ''

St James's Gazette The ''St James's Gazette'' was a London evening newspaper published from 1880 to 1905. It was founded by the Conservative Henry Hucks Gibbs, later Baron Aldenham, a director of the Bank of England 1853–1901 and its governor 1875–1877; the ...

'' and maintained his advocacy of Conservative policy. The first editor under Thompson's ownership was

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

(later Viscount Morley), with W. T. Stead as assistant editor. Morley resigned in 1883 to go into politics. Stead's editorship from 1883 to 1889 saw the paper cover such subjects as child prostitution; his campaign compelled the government to increase the age of consent from 13 to 16 in 1885. This was one of the first examples of investigative journalism, and Stead was arrested for "unlawful taking of a child" (when he purchased thirteen-year-old

Eliza Armstrong The Eliza Armstrong case was a major scandal in the United Kingdom involving a child supposedly bought for prostitution for the purpose of exposing the evils of white slavery. While it achieved its purpose of helping to enable the passage of the ...

from her mother for the meagre price of £5, to highlight how easy it was to buy children). The affair distressed its owner, Thompson, who dismissed Stead, and hired the handsome society figure,

Henry Cust Henry John Cockayne-Cust, JP, DL (10 October 1861 – 2 March 1917) was an English politician and editor who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Unionist Party. Origins He was a son of Henry Cockayne-Cust, a younger grandson o ...

, editor from 1892 to 1896, who returned the paper to its Conservative beginnings. Thompson sold the paper to

William Waldorf Astor William Waldorf "Willy" Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (31 March 1848 – 18 October 1919) was an American-British attorney, politician, businessman (hotels and newspapers), and philanthropist. Astor was a scion of the very wealthy Astor family of ...

in 1896. Sir Douglas Straight was editor until 1909, followed by F. J. Higginbottom, under whom the paper declined. Circulation doubled between 1911–15 under the editor

James Louis Garvin James Louis Garvin CH (12 April 1868 – 23 January 1947) was a British journalist, editor, and author. In 1908, Garvin agreed to take over the editorship of the Sunday newspaper ''The Observer'', revolutionising Sunday journalism and restori ...

, but the paper declined once more under its last editor D. L. Sutherland. It was absorbed into

in 1923. Several well-known writers contributed to ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' over the years.

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

gained his first job in journalism writing for the paper. Other contributors have included

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

Charles Whibley Charles Whibley (9 December 1859 – 4 March 1930) was an English literary journalist and author. In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler (they had married sisters). He also recommended ...

Sir Spencer Walpole Sir Spencer Walpole KCB, FBA (6 February 1839 – 7 July 1907) was an English historian and civil servant. Background He came of the younger branch of the ''de facto'' first prime minister, Robert Walpole who revived the Whig Party, bei ...

, Arthur Patchett Martin, and Jamaican-born writer

Eneas Sweetland Dallas Eneas Sweetland Dallas (E. S. Dallas) (1828–1879) was a Scottish journalist and author. Biography E.S. Dallas was the elder son of John Dallas of Jamaica, a planter of Scottish parentage, and his wife Elizabeth ( née Baillie), the daughte ...

. '' The British Weekly'', "one of the most successful religious newspapers of its time", followed stylistically in the footsteps of the ''Pall Mall Gazette'', "including interviews of prominent personalities, use of line illustrations and photographs, special supplements, investigative reporting, sensationalist headlines, and serialised debates".

References in popular culture

Many works of fiction refer to ''The Pall Mall Gazette''. For example: * Consulting detective

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

places an advertisement in newspapers including ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', in "

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" (1892). * In Bram Stoker's

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

'' Dracula'' (1897), the reader is presented with a ''Pall Mall Gazette'' article describing the escape of a wolf from the Zoological Gardens. * In

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

'' (1895), the Time Traveller returns to London and sees that day's edition of ''The Pall Mall Gazette''. From its date he knows that he is home at his starting point in time. * In Wells's ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' (1898), the narrator describes the "pre-Martian periodical called ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

''" as a prophecy. * In director Nicholas Meyer's first feature film '' Time After Time'' (1979), H. G. Wells (played by

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

) is a time traveler himself, 90 years in his future chasing

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

(by

David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Oth ...

) through the city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in the year 1979. In a

revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is usually a tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on ...

, new female friend Amy (by Mary Steenburgen) states that Wells strikes her as the type that "never reads a newspaper". Wells replies, "I used to write for a newspaper, ''The Pall Mall Gazette''". *In the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian novel ''Vienen los Chilenos'' (''The Chileans are Coming'') by

Guillermo Thorndike Guillermo Thorndike Losada (April 25, 1940 – March 9, 2009) was a Peruvian journalist and writer, who helped to found several important newspapers within Peru. Thorndike helped to found ''La República'', one of the country's main national daili ...

(1978), Mr. Petrie, an English gentleman travelling to

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

during the 19th-century Saltpeter War, visits its Phoenix Club, where Englishmen and England-educated Peruvians meet and converse in English. In its library he selects ''The Times'', ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', and some American newspapers, and reads news of the attempted assassination of the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

, the famine in Ireland, the fighting between British and Afghan troops, and the cavalry attacks on the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

in the United States.

Ownership

* George Smith (1865–1880) *

Henry Yates Thompson Henry Yates Thompson (15 December 1838 – 8 July 1928) was a British newspaper proprietor and collector of illuminated manuscripts. Life and career Yates Thompson was the eldest of five sons born to Samuel Henry Thompson, a banker from a lead ...

(1880–1892) *

(1892–1917) * Henry Dalziel (1917–1923)Dalziel Buys the Pall Mall Gazette
, ''New York Times'', 5 January 1917

Editorship

References

External links

''Pall Mall Gazette''
— By John Simkin (john@spartacus-educational.com)
The W.T. Stead Resource SiteFrances Carruthers Gould & The Pall Mall Gazette - UK Parliament Living Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pall Mall Gazette, The * 19th-century publications London newspapers Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Publications established in 1865 Publications disestablished in 1923 1865 establishments in England