Meredith White Townsend (1831–1911) was an English journalist and editor of ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. With

Richard Holt Hutton Richard Holt Hutton (2 June 1826 – 9 September 1897) was an English journalist of literature and religion. Life and work The son of Joseph Hutton, a Unitarian minister, Richard Holt Hutton was born at Leeds. His family moved to London ...

, he was joint-editor of the Spectator until 1887, and he was largely instrumental in making it an established success, writing most of the political articles and the opening paragraphs every week. His two chief publications were ''The Great Governing Families of England'' (1865), written in conjunction with Langton Sanford, and ''Asia and Europe'' (1901). Townsend was considered as one of the finest journalists of his day, and he has since been called "the greatest leader writer ever to appear in the English Press."

Early life

Townsend was born at Bures,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

on April 1, 1831. He was educated at

Ipswich Grammar School , motto_translation = Work and Honour , address = Darling Street , city = Ipswich , state = Queensland , postcode = 4305 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, single-sex, day & b ...

. In 1848, he went out to India, and four years later became editor of the Friend of India, acting also for some years as

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specific ...

correspondent. In 1860, Townsend returned to England and purchased the weekly Spectator in partnership with Hutton.

The Spectator

Townsend and Hutton remained co-proprietors and joint editors for 25 years, taking a strong stand on some of the most controversial issues of their day. They supported the Federalists against the South in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, an unpopular position which, at the time, did some damage to the paper’s circulation, though gained readers in the long run when the North won. They also launched an all-out assault on

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

, accusing him in a series of leaders of jettisoning ethics for politics by ignoring the atrocities committed against Bulgarian civilians by

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in the 1870s.

Major publications

Towsend published ''Asia and Europe'' in 1901, the studies presenting the conclusions formed by him in a long life devoted to the subject of the relations between Asia and Europe. He had previously published ''The Great Governing Families of England'' (1865) in partnership with

John Langton Sanford John Langton Sanford (1824–1877) was an English historical writer. Life Born at Upper Clapton, London, on 22 June 1824, Sanford studied at University College, London. Entering Lincoln's Inn, he read in the chambers of John Richard Quain, an ...

. The book detailed the histories of the great administrator-families of England. Townsend also contributed to a pseudo-biography of the Arab prophet Mohamed, which was written in a triumphant and imperialistic style.

Final years

In 1887, Townsend was succeeded by

John St Loe Strachey Evelyn John St Loe Strachey (21 October 1901 – 15 July 1963) was a British Labour politician and writer. A journalist by profession, Strachey was elected to Parliament in 1929. He was initially a disciple of Oswald Mosley, and, feeling that ...

, a young aristocrat who had replaced

H.H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of ...

(the future Prime Minister) as a leader-writer of the Spectator during the previous year." Towsend died at

Little Bookham Little Bookham is a small, historic village in Surrey, England between Great Bookham and Effingham. It is home to several listed historical buildings, included in a large conservation area, along with Ye Olde Windsor Castle public house, Manor H ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Oct. 21 1911.

References

External links

*
Parliamentary Archives, Papers of Meredith White Townsend, 1857-1911
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Meredith 1831 births 1911 deaths English newspaper editors English male journalists The Spectator editors