Transcript

of

Sir George Newnes, Bart. [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol.  XLII, (1910), p.50.

by

Maxwell Adams (Ed.)

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1910 Cullompton meeting. Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet, was a celebrated publisher and editor and generally considered a founding father of popular journalism. He also served as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament for two decades. His company, George Newnes Ltd, was known for its periodicals. It continued publishing such ground-breaking consumer magazines as Nova long after his death. A complete biography with portrait and a clever caricature may be accessed in Wikipedia. The Baronet built a large home; Hollerday House in Lynton that was destroyed by fire in 1913. The obituary, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Sir George Newnes, Bart. The career of Sir George Newnes is too well known to demand more than a passing notice in our Transactions, He was the son of the Rev. Thomas Mold Newnes, a Congregationalist minister of Matlock, and was educated at Silcoates, near Wakefield, and at the City of London School. He began life in the fancy goods business, first in London and afterwards in Manchester; but the foundation of his fortune was laid by the happy inspiration which prompted him to start the publication of the well-known paper called Tit-Bits. He was subsequently interested in many publishing and journalistic ventures, including the Strand Magazine and the Westminster Gazette, and was for some years actively associated with George Newnes (Ltd.).
He joined the Association in 1906, but took no active part in its work. In 1876, he married Priscilla Jenny Hillyard, the daughter of a Nonconformist minister, who survives him, and he is succeeded in the baronetcy by his only son, Frank Newnes. He died on 9 June, 1910, at his residence, Hollerday, Lynton, in his sixtieth year.