''The Examiner'' was a weekly paper founded by

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

and John Hunt in 1808. For the first fifty years it was a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles, but from 1865 it repeatedly changed hands and political allegiance, resulting in a rapid decline in readership and loss of purpose.

Early history

While ''The Examiner'' was in the hands of John and Leigh Hunt, the sub-title was "A Sunday paper, on politics, domestic economy, and theatricals", and the newspaper devoted itself to providing independent reports on each of these areas. It consistently published leading writers of the day, including

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

and

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

. The Hunt brothers failed in their initial aspiration to refuse advertisements in an effort to increase impartiality. In the first edition, the editor claimed ''The Examiner'' would pursue "truth for its sole object"; the paper's radical reformist principles resulted in a series of high-profile prosecutions of the editors. A tradition of publishing accurate news and witty criticisms of domestic and foreign politics was continued by Albany Fonblanque, who took over the paper in 1828. Until Fonblanque sold ''The Examiner'' in the mid-1860s, the newspaper took the form of a sixteen-page journal priced at 6d, designed to be kept and repeatedly referred to.

Later times

Albany Fonblanque, the journal's political commentator since 1826, took over ''The Examiner'' in 1830, serving as editor until 1847. He brought in such contributors as

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

, John Forster,

William Makepeace 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 t ...

, and most notably

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 ...

. Fonblanque also wrote the first notice of ''

Sketches by Boz ''Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People'' (commonly known as ''Sketches by Boz'') is a collection of short pieces Charles Dickens originally published in various newspapers and other periodicals between 1833 and ...

'' (28 February 1836) and of ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to s ...

'' (4 September 1836). Forster became the magazine's literary editor in 1835, and succeeded Fonblanque as editor from 1847 to 1855. Forster himself was succeeded by

Marmion Savage Marmion Wilme Savage (1803–1872), also known as Marmion Wilard Savage, was an Irish novelist and journalist. Life He was son of the Rev. Henry Savage. He matriculated as a pensioner on 6 October 1817 at Trinity College, Dublin, obtaining a sch ...

. ''The Examiner''s reputation was undermined when the new owner,

William McCullagh Torrens William Torrens McCullagh Torrens (13 October 1813 – 26 April 1894) was an Irish Liberal politician, who sat in the House of Commons for English constituencies variously between 1848 and 1885. Torrens was the son of James McCullagh of Greenfie ...

, halved the price of the publication in 1867. Although its tradition of radical intellectual commentaries was revived in the 1870s under the editorship of

William Minto William Minto (10 October 18451 March 1893) was a Scottish academic, critic, editor, journalist and novelist. Life Minto was born at Nether Auchintoul, near Alford, Aberdeenshire. He was son of James Minto, a farmer, and his wife Barbara Cop ...

, ''The Examiner'' was repeatedly sold until the final edition appeared in February 1881. The magazine ceased publication in 1886.

References

External links

* Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Defunct weekly newspapers Publications disestablished in 1886 Publications established in 1808 1808 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-newspaper-stub