Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet
Sir Arthur Pearson Bt., GBE | |
---|---|
Born | Cyril Arthur Pearson 24 February 1866 |
Died | 9 December 1921 London, England | (aged 55)
Burial place | Hampstead Cemetery |
Nationality | British |
Education | Winchester College |
Occupation(s) | Publishing magnate, Philanthropist |
Known for | Daily Express |
Spouses | Isobel Sarah Bennett
(m. 1887)Ethel Pearson (m. 1897) |
Children | 7, including Neville |
Parent(s) | Arthur Cyril Pearson and Phillippa Massingberd Maxwell Lyte |
Sir Cyril Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet,
Family and early life
Pearson was born on 24 February 1866 in the village of Wookey, Somerset, a son of Arthur Cyril Pearson and Phillippa Massingberd Maxwell Lyte, who was a granddaughter of the hymn-writer and poet Henry Francis Lyte. He was educated at Winchester College in Hampshire.[1] His father became rector of Drayton Parslow in Buckinghamshire.[2] His first job was as a journalist working for the London-based publisher George Newnes on Tit-Bits magazine. Within his first year he had impressed Newnes enough to be made his principal assistant.[3]
In December 1887, Pearson married Isobel Sarah Bennett, the daughter of Canon Frederick Bennett, of
Career
In 1890, after six years of working for Newnes, Pearson left to form
The Express was a departure from the papers of its time and created an immediate impact by carrying news instead of only advertisements on its front page. He was successful in establishing papers in provincial locations such as the Birmingham Daily Gazette. He came into direct competition with the Daily Mail and in the resulting commercial fight almost took control of The Times, being nominated as its manager, but the deal fell through.[6]
In 1898, Pearson founded The Royal Magazine, a monthly literary magazine which remained in publication until 1939.[7]
In 1900 Pearson despatched the explorer and adventurer
During this same period, Pearson was also active as a writer, and wrote a number of tourist guides to locations in Britain and Europe. Under the pseudonym of "Professor P. R. S. Foli", he wrote Handwriting as an Index to Character in 1902, as well as works on fortune-telling and dream interpretation. Pearson was a strong supporter of Joseph Chamberlain's tariff-reform movement, and organised the Tariff Reform League in 1903, becoming its first chairman. In 1904 he purchased the struggling The Standard and its sister paper the Evening Standard for £700,000 from the Johnstone family.
He merged the Evening Standard with his
Loss of eyesight and later life
Beginning to lose his sight due to glaucoma despite a 1908 operation, Pearson was progressively forced from 1910 onwards to relinquish his newspaper interests; the Daily Express eventually passed, in November 1916, under the control of the Canadian–British tycoon Sir Max Aitken, later Lord Beaverbrook.
Through the
Pearson's dedication to this work led to his receiving a
Pearson was a close friend of the pioneer of the Scouting movement Baden-Powell, and supportive of his efforts in setting up the movement and publishing its magazine The Scout. When Pearson's scheme for publishing in Braille was faltering due to lack of funds, on 2 May 1914 Baden-Powell publicly requested that "all Scouts perform a 'good turn' for The Scout magazine publisher Mr C. Arthur Pearson, in order to raise money for his scheme of publishing literature in Braille for the blind."
In 1919, Pearson wrote the book Victory Over Blindness: How it Was Won by the Men of St Dunstan's.
Death
Pearson died on 9 December 1921 when he drowned in his bath after knocking himself unconscious in a fall.[17] He was buried in Hampstead Cemetery after a service to which the Cabinet, the British and Norwegian royal families, and many institutes for the blind all sent official representatives. Two of his pallbearers were blind. He was survived by his wife, son and three daughters.[18]
In 1922 a biography, The Life of Sir Arthur Pearson, was written by Sidney Dark and published by Hodder & Stoughton.
Pearson's publishing company,
Decades after the founder's death, into the 1960s, the C. Arthur Pearson Ltd. imprint was one of London's four leading magazine publishers — along with Newnes,
References
- ^ Wainewright, 1907. p. 379
- ^ District 16, Drayton Parslow, Buckinghamshire, England 1881 Census
- ISBN 9780199601639.
- ^ Weaver, J. R. H. (1927). The Dictionary of National Biography. p. 429.
- ^ "The Life of Sir Arthur Pearson". Forgotten Books. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ISBN 9780857712134.
- ^ "The Royal Magazine". Galactic Central. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
- ^ a b "PATAGONIA; Hesketh-Prichard's Stirring Tale of Exploration in the Far South". The New York Times. 20 December 1902. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
- ISBN 9780199601639.
- ^ Dark, Sydney (1922). The life of Sir Arthur Pearson. p. 140.
- ^ ISBN 0-09-100490-X.
- ^ "Braille Pocket Watch". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
- ^ "No. 29730". The London Gazette. 1 September 1916. p. 8592.
- ^ Dark, Sydney (1922). The life of Sir Arthur Pearson. p. 195.
- ^ "Sir Arthur Pearson describes the great victory won over blindness". The New York Times. 1 June 1919. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ "Sir John Mills meets the Blairs". Getty Images. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
- ^ Dark, Sydney (1922). The life of Sir Arthur Pearson. pp. 203–204.
- ^ Dark, Sydney (1922). The life of Sir Arthur Pearson. p. 220.
- ^ "London Opinion [closed]," MagForum. Retrieved 1 Apr. 2021.
- ^ "George Newnes Co," Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 1 Apr. 2021.
- ^ Birch, Paul. "Speaking Frankly," Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Birmingham Mail (14 December 2008).
Sources
- Pearson, Arthur (1919). Victory Over Blindness. George H. Doran.
- Sidney, Dark (1922). The Life of Sir Arthur Pearson. Hodder and Stoughton.
- Fraser, Ian (1961) My Story of St Dunstan's.
- Wainewright, John Bannerman (ed) (1907) Winchester College 1836–1906: A Register. P. and G. Wells.