George Weston Wrigley
| George Weston Wrigley | |
|---|---|
| Born |
24 June 1847 Wrigley Corners, near Galt, Upper Canada |
| Died | 14 January 1907 (aged 59) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Teacher, journalist |
George Weston Wrigley (24 June 1847 – 14 January 1907) was a Canadian journalist and social reformer. He was a believer in the Social Gospel and was an opponent of the industrial capitalist society, which he blamed for many social ills. He was the editor of several newspapers that promoted reform in the later part of the 19th century.
George Weston Wrigley was born on 24 June 1847 in Wrigley Corners near Galt, Upper Canada. His parents were Sylvanus Wrigley and Isabella Stoddard. He was educated in local schools and became a teacher in Brant and Waterloo counties. He was promoted to school principal, working in London (Ontario) and Wallaceburg schools. Wrigley became a journalist in the early 1880s. He was editor in turn of the Wallaceburg Valley Record and the Drumbo Record. Wrigley's parents were Presbyterian, but his views evolved to a more liberal, Social Gospel position. His wife Sarah bore him three sons. Sarah Wrigley became a leader of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
George Wrigley founded the Canada Labour Courier in 1886 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The paper supported the Canadian branch of the Knights of Labor. This organization had over 250 labor assemblies in Ontario at the time. It believed that the working people should be organized, educated and directed. It was idealistic and trade-unionist, but was also conservative and generally opposed to strikes. The Canada Labour Courier failed in June 1887. Wrigley was an organizer and speaker in many reform movements, but earned his living as a journalist. He wrote for the London Advertiser, the Toronto Globe, and the Toronto Daily Mail and Empire.
In 1892 Wrigley founded the Canada Farmers' Sun in London, supporting the Ontario Patrons of Industry, a rapidly growing agrarian reform movement.The Patrons were not a political party, but had political goals. They wanted a smaller and simpler government, abolition of railway subsidies and reduced reciprocal tariffs. They also wanted laws against cartels and monopolies.
In 1893 Wrigley agreed to devote three pages of his paper to the Patrons in return for their financial assistance. In May 1894 the paper moved to offices in the Evening Star building in Toronto. In 1895 the Patrons bought a 50% share of the paper, which claimed to have a circulation of 30,000. The paper gave extensive coverage to the Patrons, but also covered many other reform movements and proposals. It avoided religious controversy, but clearly took the Social Gospel position that the value of Christianity lay in practical deeds.
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