Portrait of Portrait of William Woodfall, in the National Portrait Gallery (4672211). William Woodfall (baptised 7 February 1745 – 1803) was an English

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and Parliamentary reporter.

Life

William's father, Henry Woodfall, printed and published the ''

Public Advertiser The ''Public Advertiser'' was a London newspaper in the 18th century. The ''Public Advertiser'' was originally known as the ''London Daily Post and General Advertiser'', then simply the ''General Advertiser'' consisting more or less exclusively o ...

''. William served an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

with bookseller Richard Baldwin after attending St. Paul's School,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

, where his nickname was "Memory Woodfall". Following his father's retirement, Woodfall shared the running of the ''Public Advertiser'' with his brother

Henry Sampson Woodfall Henry Sampson Woodfall (21 June 173912 December 1805) was an English printer and journalist. He was born and lived in London. Biography Woodfall's grandfather Henry Woodfall (c. 1686–1747), was the author of the ballad ''Darby and Joan'' ...

. William edited the ''London Packet'' from 1772 to 1774, then joined the ''

Morning Chronicle ''The Morning Chronicle'' was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London. It was notable for having been the first steady employer of essayist William Hazlitt as a political reporter and the first steady employer of Charles Dickens as a journalist. It ...

'' as publisher, editor, and reporter. In 1770 London papers began to report Parliamentary debates fully, against the rules of the House of Commons. Woodfall published long reports of over 17,000 words, often copied by other papers. He would walk down to the House of Commons "with a hard-boiled egg in his pocket, take his seat in the gallery, sit out the longest debate and -- not being allowed to take notes -- return to his printing office and write out fifteen or sixteen small columns of speeches." The Commons tried to have Woodfall and other printers arrested, but City of London officials challenged the right of Commons messengers to make arrests within the City; there were riots, and the Commons backed down, and no longer challenged the reporting of its debates. In 1789 he sold his interest in the ''Morning Chronicle'' and founded ''The Diary, or Woodfall's Register''. Because of the ban on note-taking in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, he had memorised what was said, writing it down afterwards. The ''Diary'' was published from 30 March 1789 to 31 August 1793. Under the name "Adams", Woodfall acted on the stage in Scotland. His son Thomas, a publisher and printer of theatre bills, married the actress Clementina Collins in 1796. William Woodfall's reporting was frequently controversial.

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sued him for libel and, in 1779, Woodfall was found guilty of printing and publishing a leaflet supporting the acquittal of Admiral Augustus Keppell and sentenced to 12 months in

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

. In 1789, he passed control of ''The Morning Chronicle'' to James Perry. ''The Diary'' closed in 1793.

References

External links

Spartacus article on William Woodfall
*Hannah Barker
‘Woodfall, William (bap. 1745, d. 1803)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 19 Dec 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodfall, Henry Sampson 1746 births 1803 deaths British printers British newspaper editors British publishers (people)