Henry Sampson (newspaper proprietor)
Encyclopedia
Henry Sampson was an English
newspaper proprietor and editor.
Sampson was the son of a journalist. At the age of twelve he entered a printing office in London, and became successively a compositor and proof-reader. From youth he was devoted to sport, and excelled as a boxer, runner, and sculler until he was twenty-three, when he was disabled by an accident to his left foot.
In 1866 he was engaged by Samuel Beeton to contribute sporting leaders to the Glow-Worm and the Weekly Dispatch
. Afterwards he joined the staff of the Illustrated Sporting News and Theatrical Review, and early in 1869 was appointed editor of that journal. On its collapse on 19 March 1870 he became the first editor of the Latest News (No. 1, 29 Aug. 1869), a penny Sunday paper of sixteen pages, which ceased after No. 57 on 25 Sept. 1870. In 1870 he was engaged as a leader-writer on the Morning Advertiser
, and started contributing to Fun
During the illness of Thomas Hood the younger he acted as sub-editor of Fun, and after Hood's death in 1874 conducted the paper until February 1878. In 1875, 1876, 1877, and 1878 he edited Fun Comic Annual, and wrote stories for its pages. Early in 1872 he started sending to the Weekly Dispatch, under the signature of ‘Pendragon,’ letters of general criticism on sport. Developing the scheme, he, on 19 Aug. 1877, as part proprietor and editor, under the same pseudonym of Pendragon, started a weekly sporting paper, The Referee
. Its success soon enabled him to give up his other engagements and confine himself exclusively to his own paper for the remainder of his life.
He died at 6 Hall Road, St. John's Wood, London, on 16 May 1891.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
newspaper proprietor and editor.
Sampson was the son of a journalist. At the age of twelve he entered a printing office in London, and became successively a compositor and proof-reader. From youth he was devoted to sport, and excelled as a boxer, runner, and sculler until he was twenty-three, when he was disabled by an accident to his left foot.
In 1866 he was engaged by Samuel Beeton to contribute sporting leaders to the Glow-Worm and the Weekly Dispatch
Sunday Dispatch
The Sunday Dispatch was a British newspaper, published between 27 September 1801 and 1961. Until 1928, it was called the Weekly Dispatch.-History:...
. Afterwards he joined the staff of the Illustrated Sporting News and Theatrical Review, and early in 1869 was appointed editor of that journal. On its collapse on 19 March 1870 he became the first editor of the Latest News (No. 1, 29 Aug. 1869), a penny Sunday paper of sixteen pages, which ceased after No. 57 on 25 Sept. 1870. In 1870 he was engaged as a leader-writer on the Morning Advertiser
Morning Advertiser
Morning Advertiser is the only weekly pub trade publication in the UK. It currently has a circulation of more than 32,500 that reaches the key decision-makers in England and Wales. In March 2011, William Reed Business Media, bought The Publican from United Business Media and merged the two titles...
, and started contributing to Fun
Fun (magazine)
Fun was a Victorian weekly magazine, first published on 21 September 1861. The magazine was founded by the actor and playwright H. J. Byron in competition with Punch magazine.-Description:...
During the illness of Thomas Hood the younger he acted as sub-editor of Fun, and after Hood's death in 1874 conducted the paper until February 1878. In 1875, 1876, 1877, and 1878 he edited Fun Comic Annual, and wrote stories for its pages. Early in 1872 he started sending to the Weekly Dispatch, under the signature of ‘Pendragon,’ letters of general criticism on sport. Developing the scheme, he, on 19 Aug. 1877, as part proprietor and editor, under the same pseudonym of Pendragon, started a weekly sporting paper, The Referee
Sunday Referee
The Sunday Referee was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom.The paper was founded in 1877 as The Referee, primarily covering sports news...
. Its success soon enabled him to give up his other engagements and confine himself exclusively to his own paper for the remainder of his life.
He died at 6 Hall Road, St. John's Wood, London, on 16 May 1891.
Works
- ‘Dictionary of Modern Slang,’ 2nd ed. 1860.
- ‘A History of Advertising,’ with illustrations and facsimiles, 1874.
- ‘Modern Boxing, by Pendragon,’ 1878.