Robert Kemp Philp (1819–1882) was an English journalist, author, and Chartist.

Early life

Born at Falmouth on 14 June 1819, he was son of Henry Philp (1793–1836) of Falmouth. His grandfather Robert Kemp Philp (1769–1850), a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

and then Unitarian minister of Falmouth, was one of the earliest supporters of

ragged school Ragged schools were charitable organisations dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th century Britain. The schools were developed in working-class districts. Ragged schools were intended for society's most destitute children ...

s and city missions.

Chartist

On leaving school Philp was placed, in 1835, with a printer at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, and then was a newsvendor in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

. For selling a Sunday newspaper, he was fined, and, on refusing to pay, was condemned to the

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

for two hours. He joined the Chartist movement, and edited a paper called ''The Regenerator'', and, with

Henry Vincent Henry Vincent (10 May 1813 – 29 December 1878) was active in the formation of early Working Men's Associations in Britain, a popular Chartist leader, brilliant and gifted public orator, prospective but ultimately unsuccessful Victorian membe ...

, ''The National Vindicator'', a Bath weekly newspaper, which appeared from 1838 to 1842. In 1839 Philp began lecturing as a Chartist, of moderate opinions. After the

Newport Rising The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 Chartist sympathisers, under the lead ...

(November 1840) he collected evidence for the defence of John Frost (d. 1877) . v. and was arrested at

Newport, Monmouthshire Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest au ...

, on suspicion of complicity, but was released on bail. He joined on the executive committee of the Chartists in 1841. In the spring of 1842 Philp signed the declaration drawn up by

Joseph Sturge Joseph Sturge (1793 – 14 May 1859) was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (now Anti-Slavery International). He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions support ...

, and was appointed a delegate to the conference called by Sturge at

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 ...

on 27 December 1842. As a result, Philp was ousted from the Chartist committee by the "physical force" group, led by

Feargus O'Connor Feargus Edward O'Connor (18 July 1796 – 30 August 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan, which sought to provide smallholdings for the labouring classes. A highly charismatic figure, O'Connor was admired for his ...

. He was a member of the national convention which sat in London from 12 April 1842, and is credited with having drawn up the monster petition, signed by 3,300,000 persons, and presented on 2 May, in favour of the confirmation of the charter. Philp was a contributor to ''The Sentinel'' from its launch on 7 January 1843.

Later life

In 1845 Philp settled in Great New Street,

Fetter Lane Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. It forms part of the A4 road and runs between Fleet Street at its southern end and Holborn. History The street was originally called Faytor or Faiter Lane, then Fe ...

, London, as a publisher, and was sub-editor of the ''People's Journal'' from 1846 to 1848. He published, on his own account, the ''Family Friend'', successively a monthly, fortnightly, and weekly periodical. He acted as editor from 1849 to 1852. It had an enormous sale. Similar serials followed: the ''Family Tutor'' (between 1851 and 1853), the ''Home Companion'' (from 1852 to 1856), and the ''Family Treasury'' (in 1853–4). He also edited ''

Diogenes Diogenes ( ; grc, Διογένης, Diogénēs ), also known as Diogenes the Cynic (, ) or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy). He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea ...

'', a weekly comic paper (1853–4). Philp died at 21

Claremont Square Claremont Square is a square in the Angel (Pentonville) part of Islington, London. Its central green mound, hiding a reservoir, is dotted with mature trees on all four sides (embankments). On its north side is Pentonville Road. It is lined on ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, on 30 November 1882, aged 64, and was buried in a common grave (no.25301) on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

. He left an only son.

Works

Philp compiled cheap handbooks on the practical topics of daily life. In many cases they were issued in monthly numbers at twopence. The most popular, '' Enquire Within Upon Everything'', appeared in 1856; a sixty-fifth edition followed in 1882, and in 1888 the sale had reached a total of 1,039,000 copies. By 1900 it had sold almost 1.3 million and remained in print until 1973Alt URL
/ref> A supplement, ''The Interview'', appeared in 1856; republished as ''A Journey of Discovery all round our House'', London, 1867. Similar compilations were: ''Notices to Correspondents: Information on all Subjects, collected from Answers given in Journals'', 1856, and ''The Reason Why: a careful Collection of some hundreds of Reasons for Things which, though generally believed, are imperfectly understood'' (1856, tenth thousand 1857). The last heralded a ''Reason Why'' series of volumes dealing with general science (1857, forty-fifth thousand 1867); domestic science (1857, 1869); natural history (1860); history (1859); the Bible (1859); Christian denominations (1860); the garden and farm (1860); and physical geography and geology (1863). Philp's dictionaries of daily wants (1861), of useful knowledge, 1858–62 (issued in monthly parts), of medical and surgical knowledge, ''The Best of Everything'', and ''The Lady's Every-day Book'', 1873, were all popular. He also published a ''History of Progress in Great Britain'', in sixpenny monthly parts, June 1859 to July 1860, which was reissued in two volumes (1859–60). The portions dealing with ''The Progress of Agriculture'' and the ''Progress of Carriages, Roads ...'', were printed separately (London, 1858). Philp was responsible for many further similar works. He also compiled guides to the

Lake district The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and to the Great Northern, the Midland (1873), London and North-Western (1874), London and South-Western (1874), Great Eastern (1875), London, Brighton, and South Coast (1875), and South-Eastern railways (1875). At least five songs by him were set to music, and he wrote a comedy, in two acts, ''The Successful Candidate'' (1853). His portrait was in vol. i. of the ''Family Treasury''.

References

;Attribution

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Philp, Robert Kemp 1819 births 1882 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery 19th-century British journalists Chartists English male journalists English writers People from Falmouth, Cornwall