Beverley Baxter

Sir Arthur Beverley Baxter, FRSL (8 January 1891 – 26 April 1964) was a Canadian-born journalist and politician. He spent most of his career in the United Kingdom working for the Daily Express and as a theatre critic for the London Evening Standard, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Conservative Party from 1935 until his death.

Baxter's father, James B. Baxter, was a Yorkshire-born Methodist who had emigrated to Canada, and Baxter was born in Toronto. He left school at the age of 15, to work as an office boy for a stockbroker. However, Baxter disliked the work and left soon after to work for the Nordheimer Piano and Music Company where he sold pianos. He was made personal assistant to the owner. In his spare time he composed music, sang in operas, and wrote a novel.

He found that he enjoyed writing and was considering a professional career as a novelist when the First World War broke out. In 1915 he enlisted in the Canadian Military Engineers and served as a Lieutenant in the Infantry with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France. He was attached to the Royal Engineers for a time in 1918. Baxter received no decorations in the war, saying he was "neither sufficiently forward, nor far enough back".

After the end of the war, Baxter remained in Europe and settled in London. In 1920 he managed to get an interview with fellow Canadian Lord Beaverbrook, who was one of the British "press Barons" seeking to build up the circulation of the Daily Express to match that of Lord Northcliffe's Daily Mail. The interview led to an appointment as a leader-writer and occasional reporter. When something written by Baxter caught the approving eye of editor R. D. Blumenfeld, Baxter was put in charge of page 4 of the paper which included the editorial, opinion pieces, and letters to the editor.

...
Wikipedia