Sir John Richard Robinson (2 November 1828 – 30 November 1903) was an English journalist, manager and editor of the ''Daily News''.

Life

Family grave of John Richard Robinson in Highgate Cemetery

Born on 2 November 1828 at

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelms ...

, Essex, he was the second son of eight children of Richard Robinson, a congregational minister. His wife Sarah was the daughter of John Dennant, also a congregational minister, of

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tributary of the River Blyth, upstream from Southwold. T ...

, Suffolk. At eleven he entered the school for the sons of congregational ministers at

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

. Withdrawn from school on 26 June 1843, he was apprenticed to a firm of booksellers at

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based t ...

. His first effort towards journalism was a descriptive account (in the '' Daily News'' 14 February 1846) of a meeting of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

labourers to protest against the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...

. After reporting for the ''Bedford Mercury'', he obtained a post on the ''Wiltshire Independent'' at

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

, and sent regular reports of the local markets to the ''Daily News''. In 1848 Robinson went to London. Having become a unitarian, he was made sub-editor of a Unitarian journal, ''The Inquirer'', and did most of the work for

John Lalor John Lalor (1814–1856) was an Irish journalist, author, and solicitor. Early life and education The son of John Lalor, a Roman Catholic merchant, Lalor was born in Dublin, and educated at a Catholic school at Carlow and Clongowes Wood College, ...

, the editor. His next post was on the ''Weekly News and Chronicle'', under John Sheehan, and in 1855 he became editor of the ''Express'', an evening paper under the same management as the ''Daily News''. At the same time he was a prolific contributor elsewhere. He followed the revolutionary movements of Europe, and was in contact with

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...

after writing an appreciation. He also knew

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, poli ...

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

, and other leaders. In 1868, when the price of the ''Daily News'' was reduced to one penny, Robinson was appointed manager, and turned the paper around. He saw that the public demanded news not only quickly but in an attractive form. At the opening of the Franco-Prussian War he instructed his correspondents to telegraph descriptive details and not merely bare facts, and after the war was in progress he brought in Archibald Forbes, who became a valuable contributor. At the prompting of another correspondent,

John Edwin Hilary Skinner John Edwin Hilary Skinner (1839–1894) was an English barrister and journalist, known as a war correspondent. Life The elder son of Allen Maclean Skinner, Q.C., and a descendant of Matthew Skinner, was born in London in January 1839, and educa ...

, he started the "French Peasants Relief Fund", which reached a total of £20,000. On 16 June 1876

Edwin Pears Sir Edwin Pears (18 March 1835 – 27 November 1919) was a British barrister, author and historian. He lived in Constantinople (now Istanbul) for about forty years and he is known for his 1911 book ''Turkey and its People''. Early life Pears wa ...

of Constantinople contributed to the ''Daily News'' the first of a series of letters, which appeared on 23 June, describing the

Batak massacre The Batak massacre was a massacre of Bulgarians in Batak by Ottoman irregular cavalry troops in 1876 at the beginning of the April Uprising. The estimate for the number of victims ranges from 1,200 to 8,000, depending on the source. Uprising ...

and other atrocities. Robinson sent out an American journalist, Januarius Aloysius MacGahan, who was accompanied by

Eugene Schuyler Eugene Schuyler (February 26, 1840 – July 16, 1890) was a nineteenth-century American scholar, writer, explorer and diplomat. Schuyler was one of the first three Americans to earn a Ph.D. from an American university; and the first American tran ...

, the American consul-general in Turkey, to make inquiries. Pears's charges were corroborated. In 1887 Robinson became titular editor, the actual night editing being carried on chiefly by

Peter William Clayden Peter William Clayden (20 October 1827 – 19 February 1902) was a British Nonconformist and Liberal journalist and author.G. S. Woods, �Clayden, Peter William (1827–1902)��, rev. H. C. G. Matthew, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Ox ...

. In 1893 he was knighted on the recommendation of

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

. The fortunes of the ''News'' meanwhile declined. During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

in South Africa (1899–1902), Robinson's sympathies were with the

Boers Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this area ...

. The proprietors changed the policy of the paper to a support of the war, without restoring its prosperity. Then the policy was again reversed by new proprietors, but Robinson resigned in February 1901. Robinson died at his home in Addison Crescent,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London on 30 November 1903, and was buried 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 ...

Associations

Robinson was a

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

member, and associated with the circle of

James Payn James Payn (; 28 February 1830 – 25 March 1898) was an English novelist and editor. Among the periodicals he edited were ''Chambers's Journal'' in Edinburgh and the ''Cornhill Magazine'' in London. Family Payn's father, William Payn (1774/17 ...

, William Black, Sir Wemyss Reid, and

George Augustus Sala George Augustus Henry Fairfield Sala (November 1828 – 8 December 1895) was an author and journalist who wrote extensively for the ''Illustrated London News'' as G. A. S. and was most famous for his articles and leaders for ''The Daily Telegra ...

. He was a regular "first night" visitor to theatres. In 1854 he became a professional member of the Guild of Literature and Art, a society which was founded by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

and his friends for the benefit of authors and artists. The guild failed, however, to fulfil the aims of its founders, and Robinson with

Frederick Clifford Frederick Clifford (1828–1904) was an English journalist, known also as a barrister and legal writer. Life Born Frederick Catt at Gillingham, Kent, on 22 June 1828, he was fifth son of Jesse Catt a Kentish man by his wife Mary Pearse. After pri ...

, as the last surviving trustees, arranged for its dissolution in 1897. In 1897 he was chairman of the Newspaper Press Fund dinner, and in 1898 of the Newspaper Society dinner; the former body represented journalists, and the latter proprietors.

Family

Robinson married on 14 July 1859 Jane Mapes (died 11th July, 1876), youngest daughter of William Granger of the Grange,

Wickham Bishops Wickham Bishops is a village and civil parish in the Maldon district of Essex, England. It is located around three miles north of the town of Maldon and around two miles south-east of Witham, in whose post town it lies. The place name ''Wickham ...

, Essex; by her he had one son and one daughter. He was also a paternal uncle of the notable British writer and journalist,

Bertram Fletcher Robinson Bertram Fletcher Robinson (22 August 1870 – 21 January 1907) was an English sportsman, journalist, author and Liberal Unionist Party campaigner. Between 1893 and 1907, he wrote nearly three hundred items, including a series of short stories th ...

Life

Associations

Family

Notes

See also