Geoffrey Crowther, Baron Crowther
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Crowther, Baron Crowther (13 May 1907 – 5 February 1972) was a British
economist, journalist, educationalist and businessman. He was editor of The Economist
from 1938 to 1956.
, Leeds
on 13 May 1907. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School
and Oundle School
before gaining a scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge
to read modern languages, in which he took a first in 1928. He then changed to economics and was awarded an upper first class degree in 1929. He was elected president of the Cambridge Union Society
in 1928.
Donald Tyerman
said of him that "Crowther's self-awareness and self-confidence were not so much asserted as taken for granted. But men who did well enough in life after Cambridge were in despair when they saw how sure it seemed that he would succeed in whatever he chose to do."
In 1929 he was awarded a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship
. He spent a year at Yale
, where he met his wife Peggy and then, while nominally attached to Columbia University
, he spent a year on Wall Street. From 1931 he worked in a London merchant bank and on the recommendation of John Maynard Keynes
became an advisor on banking to the Irish Government. He married Peggy in 1932 and after a further recommendation from Keynes joined the staff of The Economist
in the same year.
in 1932 and was made deputy editor in 1935. He became editor in August 1938 at the age of 31, succeeding Walter Layton
. Under his editorship, The Economist' s circulation grew fivefold. It became one of the most influential journals in the world and "made greater progress in every way than in any similar period in its history".
He nurtured the careers of a number of distinguished journalists and writers, including Roland Bird, Donald Tyerman
, Barbara Ward
, Isaac Deutscher
, John Midgely, Norman Macrae
, Margaret Cruikshank, Helen Hill Miller, Marjorie Deane, Nancy Balfour, Donald McLachlan, Keith Kyle
, Andrew Boyd and George Steiner
. He was particularly supportive of the careers of women at a time when this was remarkable in the newspaper world.
He resigned in 1956 after serving seventeen and a half years, just one month longer than Layton.
He had become a director of Economist Newspaper Ltd. in 1947 and on his resignation as editor he became managing director. In 1963 he succeeded Layton as Chairman.
and was for a time at the Ministry of Information, before being appointed deputy head of joint war production staff at the Ministry of Production
.
In 1956, he was appointed Chairman of the Central Advisory Council for Education. The result was The Crowther Report – Fifteen to Eighteen, which eventually led, in 1972, to the raising of the school leaving age to 16, and in which he coined the word numeracy
.
In 1971, he authored the Report of the Committee on Consumer Credit, the "Crowther Report", whose recommendations led to the Consumer Credit Act 1974
.
Until his death in 1972, he was chairman of the Royal Commission on the Constitution
.
He served on the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and from 1944 was for a time on the editorial board of International Affairs
.
He was editor of Translatlantic, a magazine published in the 1940s by Penguin Books
, and was a regular participant on The Brains Trust
on BBC radio.
In education, he was a member of the governing body of the London School of Economics
, and in 1969 he was appointed Foundation Chancellor of the Open University
.
, Trust Houses Group, Trafalgar House
and Hazell Sun as well as director of London Merchant Securities
, Royal Bank of Canada
, British Printing Corporation
and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc..
He was involved in ill-fated mergers at British Printing Corporation in 1966 and at Trust House Forte in 1970.
in 1957, and was awarded a life peer
age on 28 June 1968 and became Baron Crowther, of Headingley
in the West Riding of the County of York
.
He also was awarded seven honorary degrees:
and then principal of Harper Adams Agricultural College
in Shropshire from 1922 to 1944.
He had an elder sister Phyllis who married and had two sons.
His younger brother, Bernard Martin, followed him to Clare, from where, after obtaining a Ph.D. in Physics and collaborating with Mark Oliphant
, he, like Geoffrey, was awarded a Commonwealth Fund scholarship in 1939, before the war intervened. He was for many years the editor of Physics Abstracts. He married Peggy's younger sister, Anne, and had three children.
The youngest of the three brothers, Donald Ineson, obtained a first in natural science at Magdalen College, Oxford
and became an associate editor at the BMJ
. He married and had five children.
Crowther met Margaret Worth, who had won a scholarship to Yale Law School from Swarthmore College
, in the library at Yale College in 1929. They married on 9 February 1932. They had six children. Their eldest child, Judith Vail, died in a car crash outside Boulogne-sur-Mer
on 11 July 1955, aged 20.
Crowther died of a heart attack at Heathrow Airport on 5 February 1972 at the age of 64.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
economist, journalist, educationalist and businessman. He was editor of The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
from 1938 to 1956.
Early life and education
Crowther was born in HeadingleyHeadingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road...
, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
on 13 May 1907. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School
Leeds Grammar School
Leeds Grammar School was an independent school in Leeds established in 1552. In August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physically united in September 2008....
and Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
before gaining a scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
to read modern languages, in which he took a first in 1928. He then changed to economics and was awarded an upper first class degree in 1929. He was elected president of the Cambridge Union Society
Cambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
in 1928.
Donald Tyerman
Donald Tyerman
Donald Tyerman CBE was an English journalist and editor.Tyerman was born in Middlesbrough. He contracted polio at the age of three and was paralysed from the neck down, although over the next ten years he did eventually get back full use of the whole of his body except his legs - he needed splints...
said of him that "Crowther's self-awareness and self-confidence were not so much asserted as taken for granted. But men who did well enough in life after Cambridge were in despair when they saw how sure it seemed that he would succeed in whatever he chose to do."
In 1929 he was awarded a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship
Harkness Fellowship
The Harkness Fellowships are a programme run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. They were established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several countries to spend time studying in the United States...
. He spent a year at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, where he met his wife Peggy and then, while nominally attached to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, he spent a year on Wall Street. From 1931 he worked in a London merchant bank and on the recommendation of John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
became an advisor on banking to the Irish Government. He married Peggy in 1932 and after a further recommendation from Keynes joined the staff of The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
in the same year.
The Economist
He joined The EconomistThe Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
in 1932 and was made deputy editor in 1935. He became editor in August 1938 at the age of 31, succeeding Walter Layton
Walter Layton, 1st Baron Layton
Walter Thomas Layton, 1st Baron Layton, CH, CBE , was a British economist, editor and newspaper proprietor.-Background & education:Layton was the son of Alfred John Layton of Woking, Surrey, and Mary Johnson...
. Under his editorship, The Economist
He nurtured the careers of a number of distinguished journalists and writers, including Roland Bird, Donald Tyerman
Donald Tyerman
Donald Tyerman CBE was an English journalist and editor.Tyerman was born in Middlesbrough. He contracted polio at the age of three and was paralysed from the neck down, although over the next ten years he did eventually get back full use of the whole of his body except his legs - he needed splints...
, Barbara Ward
Barbara Ward
Barbara Mary Ward , in later life Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, was a British economist and writer interested in the problems of developing countries. She urged Western governments to share their prosperity with the rest of the world and in the 1960s turned her attention to environmental...
, Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher was a Polish-born Jewish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom at the outbreak of World War II. He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs...
, John Midgely, Norman Macrae
Norman Macrae
Norman Macrae CBE was a British economist, journalist and author, considered by some to have been one of the world's best forecasters when it came to economics and society...
, Margaret Cruikshank, Helen Hill Miller, Marjorie Deane, Nancy Balfour, Donald McLachlan, Keith Kyle
Keith Kyle
Keith Kyle was a British writer, broadcaster and historian.Educated at Bromsgrove School and Magdalen College, Oxford University, where his period as an undergraduate was broken by war service. He worked for the BBC North American Service as a talks producer, succeeding Tony Benn in 1951...
, Andrew Boyd and George Steiner
George Steiner
Francis George Steiner, FBA , is an influential European-born American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, translator, and educator. He has written extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the impact of the Holocaust...
. He was particularly supportive of the careers of women at a time when this was remarkable in the newspaper world.
He resigned in 1956 after serving seventeen and a half years, just one month longer than Layton.
He had become a director of Economist Newspaper Ltd. in 1947 and on his resignation as editor he became managing director. In 1963 he succeeded Layton as Chairman.
Public service
During the Second World War he joined the Ministry of SupplyMinistry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...
and was for a time at the Ministry of Information, before being appointed deputy head of joint war production staff at the Ministry of Production
Ministry of Production
The Ministry of Production was a British government department created in February 1942, initially under the title Ministry of War Production, but the following month "War" was dropped from the title...
.
In 1956, he was appointed Chairman of the Central Advisory Council for Education. The result was The Crowther Report – Fifteen to Eighteen, which eventually led, in 1972, to the raising of the school leaving age to 16, and in which he coined the word numeracy
Numeracy
Numeracy is the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts. A numerically literate person can manage and respond to the mathematical demands of life...
.
In 1971, he authored the Report of the Committee on Consumer Credit, the "Crowther Report", whose recommendations led to the Consumer Credit Act 1974
Consumer Credit Act 1974
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that significantly reformed the law relating to consumer credit within the United Kingdom....
.
Until his death in 1972, he was chairman of the Royal Commission on the Constitution
Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)
The Royal Commission on the Constitution, also referred to as the Kilbrandon Commission or Kilbrandon Report, was a long-running royal commission set up by Harold Wilson's Labour government to examine the structures of the constitution of the United Kingdom and the British Islands and the...
.
Other appointments
Crowther served for several years on the board of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and was instrumental in insuring its survival during the war years.He served on the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and from 1944 was for a time on the editorial board of International Affairs
International Affairs (journal)
International Affairs is Britain's leading peer-reviewed academic journal of international relations founded by Chatham House in 1924. It is published bi-monthly by Wiley-Blackwell . Currently its editor-in-chief is Caroline Soper...
.
He was editor of Translatlantic, a magazine published in the 1940s by Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, and was a regular participant on The Brains Trust
The Brains Trust
The Brains Trust was a popular informational BBC radio and later television programme in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 50s.- History :...
on BBC radio.
In education, he was a member of the governing body of the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, and in 1969 he was appointed Foundation Chancellor of the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
.
Business
At one point Crowther held as many as 40 directorships. His appointments included vice-chairman of Commercial Union, chairman of The Economist GroupThe Economist Group
The Economist Group is a leading source of analysis on international business and world affairs, delivering information through a range of formats, from newspaper and magazines to conferences and electronic services...
, Trust Houses Group, Trafalgar House
Trafalgar House (company)
Trafalgar House Public Limited Company was a British conglomerate with interests in property investment, property development, engineering, construction, shipping, hotels, energy and publishing...
and Hazell Sun as well as director of London Merchant Securities
Derwent London
Derwent London is a leading British-based property investment and development business. It is headquartered in London and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
, Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...
, British Printing Corporation
Maxwell Communications Corporation
Maxwell Communications Corporation plc was a leading British media business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc..
He was involved in ill-fated mergers at British Printing Corporation in 1966 and at Trust House Forte in 1970.
Awards and honours
Crowther became a Knight BachelorKnight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1957, and was awarded a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
age on 28 June 1968 and became Baron Crowther, of Headingley
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road...
in the West Riding of the County of York
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
.
He also was awarded seven honorary degrees:
- Honorary Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, 1958
- Hon LL.D. Nottingham, 1951
- Hon D.Sc (Econ.) London, 1954
- Hon LL.D. Swarthmore, 1957
- Hon LL.D. Dartmouth, 1957
- Hon LL.D. Michigan, 1960
- Hon LL.D. Liverpool, 1961
Family
Crowther's parents were Hilda Louise Reed (died 1950) and Charles Crowther (1876–1964), a professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the University of LeedsUniversity of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
and then principal of Harper Adams Agricultural College
Harper Adams University College
Harper Adams University College is a higher education institution located close to the village of Edgmond , in Shropshire, England. It is the UK's leading specialist provider of higher education for the agri-food chain and rural sector....
in Shropshire from 1922 to 1944.
He had an elder sister Phyllis who married and had two sons.
His younger brother, Bernard Martin, followed him to Clare, from where, after obtaining a Ph.D. in Physics and collaborating with Mark Oliphant
Mark Oliphant
Sir Marcus 'Mark' Laurence Elwin Oliphant, AC, KBE, FRS was an Australian physicist and humanitarian who played a fundamental role in the first experimental demonstration of nuclear fusion and also the development of the atomic bomb.During his retirement, Oliphant was appointed as the Governor of...
, he, like Geoffrey, was awarded a Commonwealth Fund scholarship in 1939, before the war intervened. He was for many years the editor of Physics Abstracts. He married Peggy's younger sister, Anne, and had three children.
The youngest of the three brothers, Donald Ineson, obtained a first in natural science at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
and became an associate editor at the BMJ
BMJ
BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
. He married and had five children.
Crowther met Margaret Worth, who had won a scholarship to Yale Law School from Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
, in the library at Yale College in 1929. They married on 9 February 1932. They had six children. Their eldest child, Judith Vail, died in a car crash outside Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
on 11 July 1955, aged 20.
Crowther died of a heart attack at Heathrow Airport on 5 February 1972 at the age of 64.
Works
- An Introduction to The Study of Prices, 2nd Edition with W. Layton, 1935
- Economics for Democrats, 1939
- An Outline of Money, 1941