William James Wintle (1861–1934) was an English journalist and writer.''Obituary'',

Life

Wintle's family was from

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. He was educated at the

Sir Walter St John's Grammar School For Boys Sir Walter St John's was founded in 1700 for twenty boys of the village of Battersea. As the population and the English educational system changed, so did the school. The school was colloquially known as "Sinjuns" and was finally closed in 1986-7. ...

, in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

. He then was headmaster of a school for a time. By 1896 Wintle was writing for the ''

Windsor Magazine ''The Windsor Magazine'' was a monthly illustrated publication produced by Ward Lock & Co from January 1895 to September 1939 (537 issues). The title page described it as "An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women". It was bound as six-monthly ...

''. He then joined the Harmsworth staff, working for

Lord Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

. There he worked on magazines, and the ''Harmsworth Encyclopaedia'', a part-published (=serialized) work. Later he was director of a publishing house. As naturalist, Wintle was known as a shell collector; his collection went to that of

Arthur Blok Arthur Blok (ארתור בלוק; March 19, 1882 – October 14, 1974) was the British-born first administrative head (or Principal, as he was then called) of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, Israel (then Mandatory Pale ...

. He became a fellow of the Zoological Society during 1899. He joined the Malacological Society of London also, during 1916, and was its Secretary during 1919; he was elected to the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland during 1917. Folded conclave ballot

Interested in Christian religion, Wintle donated to the Anglican church in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

. He spent time on

Caldey Island Caldey Island ( Welsh:''Ynys Bŷr'') is a small island near Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales, less than off the coast. With a recorded history going back over 1,500 years, it is one of the holy islands of Britain. A number of traditions inherited f ...

with the Benedictines there. A British Museum list of those presenting zoology specimens during 1920 includes a Brother W. J. Wintle. He later became a Roman Catholic convert.

Works

One of Wintle's pieces of journalism, ''Life in Our New Century'' from 1901, was published originally in the ''Harmsworth Magazine''. Wintle also composed and published various books: *''Armenia and its Sorrows'' (1896), prompted by the

Hamidian massacres The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide an ...

. A letter of endorsement from

W. E. 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 ...

to Wintle was used to publicise the book. *''Paradise Row and Some of its Inhabitants'' (1897) *''Recreations with a Pocket Lens'' (1911) *''Nights with an Old Lag'' (1911) *''Pilgrim Songs on the King's Highway'' (1911) *''The Songs of Old England'' (1912) *''Ghost Gleams. Tales of the Uncanny'' (1921). These are regarded as ghost stories for children, and ''A Light in the Dormitory'' has been included in an anthology. Wintle wrote for the

Sunday School Union The Sunday School Union was a British ecumenical organisation devoted to promoting Sunday schools in Britain and abroad. History The Sunday School Union had been set up on 13 July 1803 "to encourage teachers to communicate with each other, impro ...

, using the pseudonym "John Upton" for a weekly article for the Union's ''Sunday School Chronicle''. With them he published: *''The Story of Florence Nightingale'' (1896) *''The Story of Albert the Good (Prince Consort)'' (1897) *''Dr. J. L. Phillips ... A Biographical Sketch'' (1898) with Mary Phillips; biography of James Liddell Phillips (1840–1895) *''The Story of Victoria, R.I.: Wife, Mother, Queen'' (1901) *''Florence Nightingale and Frances E. Willard: the Story of Their Lives'', with Florence Witts, undated According to his obituary, Wintle also wrote a ''Life'' of

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wintle, William James 1861 births 1934 deaths English journalists English writers English naturalists