Sir William Gurney Benham, FSA, FRHS (; 16 February 1859 – 13 May 1944) was a British newspaper editor, published author and three times

Mayor of Colchester The Mayor of Colchester sits as non-political chairman of Colchester Borough Council and serves as the civic representative of the borough. The mayoralty is customarily awarded to the most senior councillor of one of the political groups Current ...

Early life and family

William Benham was born on 16 February 1859 to Edward Benham, a printer, and Mary Carr. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School until 1873 and then at

Colchester Royal Grammar School Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a state-funded grammar school in Colchester, Essex. It was founded in 1128 and was later granted two royal charters - by Henry VIII in 1539 and by Elizabeth I in 1584.Trevor J. Hearn, ''Vitae Corona Fide ...

, a school about which he has written, of whose old boys' society he was later President and which still has a building named after him. In 1904 he married Ethel Hervey Elwes and had three children: Edith Tayspill Benham (1905-1955), Hervey William Gurney Benham (1910-1987) and Maura Elwes Mary Benham (1912-1995).

Career

His first job was as a journalist in

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 ...

in 1881. In 1884 he took over the family printing business and began his 59-year editorship of the ''

Essex County Standard The ''Essex County Standard'' is a weekly newspaper, published in Colchester, Essex. In August 2019 Newsquest announced it would no longer subscribe to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the body that provides independently verified circulation f ...

''. From 1892 to 1929 he edited the newspaper jointly with his brother, Charles Edwin Benham. A "conscientious as well as an excellent scholar", he is now mainly known through his many publications, many of which are transcriptions of official documents from mediaeval times, particularly those related to his home town of Colchester. He also compiled a number of books of quotations, leading a reviewer in the ''

Journal of Education The Journal of Education () is an academic journal, published by SAGE Publishing on behalf of the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, with Hardin Coleman as its editor-in-chief. It bills itself as "the oldest educ ...

'' to comment after his death, "it is remarkable that one man — Sir William Gurney Benham — was able to collect and arrange some fifty thousand quotations and proverbs". For ten years he was also editor of the ''

Essex Review Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

''. In addition, Gurney Benham was mayor of Colchester three times, for the years 1892/93, 1908/09 and 1933/34, in 1933 was appointed to the honour of

High Steward of Colchester The High Steward of Colchester is a ceremonial office awarded by Colchester Borough Council, Essex, England. The High steward (civic), stewardship was established by royal charter of Charles I of England, Charles I dated 9 July 1635. The charter, ...

and was knighted in 1935 in recognition of his public service. He remained editor of the Standard until 1943, and was a director of the Colchester Gas Company for over forty years, being chairman until his resignation on grounds of ill health the day before his death.

Death and legacy

Benham died on 13 May 1944. Gurney Benham Close, a street in Colchester, and Gurney Benham House, a building on the Colchester Royal Grammar School campus, are named after him.

Publications

* ''Playing Cards: The History and Secrets of the Pack'' * ''Book of Quotations, Proverbs and Household Words'' (1924, reprinted 1929) * * * ''A Short History of Playing Cards'' * ''Benham's New Book of Quotations'' * ''The oath book; or, Red parchment book of Colchester''

References

External links

''The oath book; or, Red parchment book of Colchester''
on Archive.org (1907). {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney Benham, William 1859 births 1944 deaths English newspaper editors English male journalists English lexicographers Mayors of Colchester People educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School Fellows of the Royal Historical Society English justices of the peace