The Satirist

Last updated

The Satirist, or the Censor of the Times
TypeWeekly
Founder(s) Barnard Gregory
Founded1831
Political alignmentAnti-Tory
Ceased publication1849
Headquarters London
Circulation 10,000
Sister newspapersThe Penny Satirist

The Satirist, or the Censor of the Times was a controversial 19th-century British newspaper which featured reports of scandals involving well known residents of London. It was published by Barnard Gregory, who faced multiple libel charges and was later imprisoned due to its articles. The Satirist was frequently criticised by commentators, and James Hain Friswell described it as a "poor imitation of Town and Country ". [1]

Contents

History

The Satirist was first published on 10 April 1831, at that time it cost 7d. It was published weekly and released on Sundays. [2] The paper became notorious for the allegations it published and the legal battles they provoked. The front page of the paper carried the motto, "Satire's my weapon. I was born a critic and a satirist; and my nurse remarked that I hissed as soon as I saw light". [3] Though it never failed to gain an audience, public opinion eventually turned squarely against the paper. The Satirist published 924 issues, the last of which was released December 15, 1849. At its height the paper had a weekly circulation of over 9,000. [4]

In many cases Gregory would send a draft of an article that he had prepared to the subject of the article and request a bribe to suppress its publication. This proved to be a lucrative practice for the paper. Gregory was sued for libel several times, however, and he was almost constantly involved in litigation during the eighteen years that he published the paper. [3] Though the nature of the English justice system at the time made it difficult for slandered parties to enforce judgments against him, some wealthy targets of the paper managed to win cases against him, and he served several stints in prison as a result. [4] In addition to legal attacks, some targets of the paper responded by publishing the same type of articles directed at the staff of The Satirist. After The Satirist published articles attacking the printer of the competing The Town newspaper, The Town's publisher, Renton Nicholson, retaliated with a series of scathing articles directed at Barnard Gregory. [5]

Topics

The Satirist covered accusations as serious as arson and as minor as individuals cheating while playing cards. One topic that it frequently covered, however, was affairs between wealthy men and their female servants. [6] [7] The Satirist also editorialised about the mistreatment of the poor. Gregory used his paper to become a prominent critic of the practice of medical schools using the bodies of deceased paupers for dissections. [8] It also attacked Tory politics and published caricatures of its targets, reserving special disdain for the Duke of Cumberland and Queen Adelaide. [9] Other notable targets of the paper included Sir James Hogg and the Duke of Brunswick. Both of these men brought Gregory to court over the articles he published about them and long legal court resulted. [3] [10] In one court battle between the Duke of Brunswick and Gregory, the Duke's lawyer claimed that The Satirist published, "divers indecent, obscene, lewd, filthy, and disgusting articles". [2] Though it typically focused on stories set in London, The Satirist also published stories about foreign disasters. [11]

The Satirist also had a sister publication known as the Penny Satirist which was devoted to exposing the transgressions of more obscure citizens. [6]

Related Research Articles

Year 1449 (MCDXLIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Moore (novelist)</span> Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist

George Augustus Moore was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo. He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s. There, he befriended many of the leading French artists and writers of the day.

<i>News of the World</i> 1843–2011 British tabloid newspaper

The News of the World was a weekly national red top tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling English-language newspaper, and at closure still had one of the highest English-language circulations. It was originally established as a broadsheet by John Browne Bell, who identified crime, sensation and vice as the themes that would sell most copies. The Bells sold to Henry Lascelles Carr in 1891; in 1969, it was bought from the Carrs by Rupert Murdoch's media firm News Limited. Reorganised into News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation, the newspaper was transformed into a tabloid in 1984 and became the Sunday sister paper of The Sun.

DMG Media is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at 9 Derry Street in Kensington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Jefferson Hogg</span> 19th-century English barrister and writer

Thomas Jefferson Hogg was a British barrister and writer best known for his friendship with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Hogg was raised in County Durham, but spent most of his life in London. He and Shelley became friends while studying at University College, Oxford, and remained close until Shelley's death. During their time at Oxford they collaborated on several literary projects, culminating in their joint expulsion following the publication of an essay titled "The Necessity of Atheism". They remained good friends, but their relationship was sometimes strained because of Hogg's attraction to the women who were romantically involved with Shelley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Robert Sims</span> English journalist, poet, dramatist & novelist (1847-1922)

George Robert Sims was an English journalist, poet, dramatist, novelist and bon vivant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Vizetelly</span>

Henry Richard Vizetelly was a British publisher and writer. He started the publications Pictorial Times and Illustrated Times, wrote several books while working in Paris and Berlin as correspondent for the Illustrated London News, and between 1880 and 1890, ran a publishing house in London, Vizetelly & Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabloid journalism</span> Style of largely sensationalist journalism

Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, and tabloid journalism replaced the earlier label of yellow journalism and scandal sheets. Not all newspapers associated with tabloid journalism are tabloid size, and not all tabloid-size newspapers engage in tabloid journalism; in particular, since around the year 2000 many broadsheet newspapers converted to the more compact tabloid format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles II, Duke of Brunswick</span> Duke of Brunswick

Charles II, Duke of Brunswick, ruled the Duchy of Brunswick from 1815 until 1830.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Mylius</span> Belgian-born journalist (1878–1947)

Edward Frederick Mylius was a Belgian-born journalist jailed in England in 1911 for criminal libel after publishing a report that King George V of the United Kingdom was a bigamist.

K. P. Saxena was an Indian satirist and writer. He was employed by the Indian Railways and was a prolific writer for magazines and newspapers. He started writing for Doordarshan's famous serial Bibi Natiyon Wali. He wrote vyangya articles for almost every popular magazine of Hindi. His first book of satire Koi Patthar Se Na Mare was published in 1982. His style is unique and he is very popular among poets in Kavi Sammelans. He was an expert of three Indian language Urdu, Hindi and Awadhi. He was awarded Padma Shri by Government of India, in year 2000. He died on 31 October 2013. He was a regular in Hindi Kavi Sammelan.

Barnard Gregory (1796–1852) was a British journalist, publisher and actor. He published The Satirist from 1831 to 1849. He used this paper to publish the scandals of residents of London and often blackmailed his targets. Several articles that were published in the paper led to high-profile libel suits. As a result of these cases, he was imprisoned multiple times. Gregory was also a gifted Shakespearian actor, although his acting career was hindered by his poor reputation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sampson Low</span> British bookseller and publisher (1797–1886)

Sampson Low was a bookseller and publisher in London in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renton Nicholson</span>

Renton Nicholson was an English impresario, businessman, actor, and writer. He is best known for his Judge and Jury Society performances and for his ownership of the newspaper The Town.

James Hain Friswell was an English essayist and novelist.

Frederick James Whishaw was a Russian-born British novelist, historian, poet and musician. A popular author of children's fiction at the turn of the 20th century, he published over forty volumes of his work between 1884 and 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Williams (satirist)</span>

John Williams (1761–1818) was an English poet, satirist, journalist and miscellaneous writer, best known by the pseudonym of Anthony Pasquin.

Town and Country Magazine was an 18th-century London-based publication that featured tales of scandals and affairs between members of London's upper classes.

The Town was a British newspaper that was published between 1837 and 1840. It generally covered the scandals and nightlife of London. Many of the topics written about in the paper were considered extremely vulgar at the time and it was often criticized for discussing these topics. Renton Nicholson, the editor and part owner of the paper, became embroiled in several legal disputes due to the articles that he published.

The Cyprus Times, also known at The Times of Cyprus was an English-language newspaper published in Larnaca, in Cyprus from 1880, following the island becoming a British protectorate in 1878. It was founded by Edward Henry Vizetelly, who also acted as its first editor. Vizetelly had been a war correspondent for the British newspaper The Daily News, and The New York Times.

References

  1. Friswell 1880 , p. 151
  2. 1 2 Robertson 1913 , p. 868
  3. 1 2 3 Boase 1904 , p. 535
  4. 1 2 Boase 1904 , p. 536
  5. Vizetelly 1893 , p. 168
  6. 1 2 Friswell 1880 , p. 150
  7. Boyar & Fleet 2010 , p. 85
  8. MacDonald 2009 , p. 387
  9. Vizetelly 1893 , p. 174
  10. Rees 1985 , p. 152
  11. Boyar & Fleet 2010 , p. 81

Bibliography