George Newnes
| Sir George Newnes, Bt | |
|---|---|
Portrait of George Newnes, no later than 1897
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| Born |
13 March 1851 Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, England |
| Died | 9 June 1910 (aged 59) Lynton, Devon, England |
| Other names | Geo. Newnes |
| Occupation | Newspaper Proprietor, Publisher, Editor & Politician |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Priscilla Hillyard |
Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet (13 March 1851 – 9 June 1910) was an English publisher and editor and a founding father of popular journalism. His company George Newnes Ltd continued publishing ground-breaking consumer magazines such as Nova long after his death.
His father, Thomas Mold Newnes, was a Congregational church minister at the Glenorchy Chapel, Matlock. George Newnes was born in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, and educated at Silcoates School and then at Shireland Hall, Warwickshire, and the City of London School. In 1875 he married Priscilla Hillyard.
In 1867 he entered commerce in the "fancy goods" trade, working in London and Manchester.
He began his career in publishing in 1881 when he founded Tit-Bits as a direct response to the Elementary Education Act 1870 which introduced education for children aged 5–12 and hence produced a new young generation able to read.
The magazine was initially published in Manchester like a mini-encyclopedia, containing extracts from books and other publications, but principally a diverse range of tit-bits of information presented in an easy-to-read format. He funded the magazine by opening a vegetarian restaurant in Manchester. The addition of competitions increased the readership of the periodical, and in 1884 Newnes moved publication to London. He began to work with W T Stead, with whom he founded the Review of Reviews in 1890.Tit-Bits reached a circulation of 700,000 by the end of the 19th century. It paved the way for popular journalism — most significantly, the Daily Mail was founded by Alfred Harmsworth, a contributor to Tit-Bits, and the Daily Express was launched by Arthur Pearson, who worked at Tit-Bits for five years after winning a competition to get a job on the magazine.
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