Samuel Storey
Encyclopedia
Samuel Storey was a British politician born in County Durham
. He became a Member of Parliament
for Sunderland
and the main founder of the Sunderland Echo
newspaper
.
, near Durham
, on 13 January 1841. He was the sixth son of County Durham farmer
Robert Storey. When Robert died in 1843, his mother moved to Newcastle, where Samuel Storey was educated at St Andrew’s School. He became a pupil-teacher there when he was 13 and then attended Durham Diocesan Training College from 1858-59.
After leaving college, Storey worked as a master at Birtley Church of England School from 1860-1864. However, when his mother moved from Newcastle to Monkwearmouth
, Sunderland, in around 1858, he became increasingly involved in events in the town, helping to establish Sunderland Working Men’s Club in 1863. Storey married Mary Ann Addison, daughter of John Addison of Monkwearmouth, in April 1864. By the end of that year, he moved to Monkwearmouth as well. Following the move, he worked as a traveller for Glaholm and Robson, a rope manufacturer, for three years before setting up on his own as an accountant.
but, the following year, helped to persuade the Radical
John Candlish
to oppose Fenwick when he had to stand for re-election on taking office. Candlish was successful in the 1866 by-election and, from then on, Storey became increasingly prominent in the Liberal Party
in Sunderland. His influence extended to North Durham, too, from 1874, when he helped to found the Sunderland and North Durham Liberal Club. Sunderland Liberal Association followed in 1876.
In 1868, Storey stood unsuccessfully for Sunderland’s town council for Monkwearmouth Ward, but a year later he was successful. He remained a councillor for the ward until his election as an Alderman
in 1877 and he stayed on the council until he resigned in 1890. During the 1870s, he led a radical revival in the council and was elected Mayor in 1876, 1877 and, following the death of T.S. Turnbull in April 1880.
In April 1881, Storey was elected MP for Sunderland at the by-election which followed the resignation of Sir Henry Havelock-Allan. He was re-elected at the General Elections of 1885, 1886 and 1892, but was defeated in 1895. He stood as Liberal candidate for Newcastle in 1900, when he was defeated, and as an Independent Tariff Reformer in Sunderland in the January 1910 election. He was elected this time, but retired at the December 1910 election.
Storey’s political opinions were often at variance with his party’s. In particular, he advocated Home Rule for Ireland several years before William Ewart Gladstone
made this Liberal party policy and Storey’s public opposition to Liberal policy on Ireland in 1880 gave the moderate Liberals in Sunderland a chance to prevent his election to Parliament in 1881. In the event, however, the radical wing was strong enough to counter this and secure his unopposed return.
In October 1903, he caused a considerable stir by resigning as Chairman of the Northern Liberal Association in order to become a Tariff Reformer, and he devoted most of his energies in the ensuing decade to that cause. He failed, however, to win the Sunderland Liberal Association over to Tariff Reform in 1904 but, the following year, was a prime mover in the formation of the Northern Tariff Reform Federation. This, he hoped, would bring together men of all shades of political opinion, since he insisted the question was an economic, not a party political, matter.
Storey spoke at meetings all over the country and won the Sunderland seat at the January 1910 election as an Independent Tariff Reform candidate. In the same year, he bought the Newcastle Daily Journal, to help further the Tariff Reform cause in the North - the Tariff Reformers having been deprived of their ‘loudest local advocate’ when the North Mail was sold to a group of Liberals headed by Sir Christopher Furness in 1906.
Local politics remained a constant interest for Storey too, and he was a member of Durham County Council from 1892 to 1913. He was first elected to the authority as an Alderman
in 1892, then as a councillor from 1898-1907, and again as an Alderman from 1907-1913. He served as vice-chairman of the council from 1892-1894 and 1897-1898, and as chairman from 1894-97, and from 1898-1905. During this time, his major concerns were sanitary matters and education. Storey's contribution to Sunderland history, both politically and through his newspaper business, was formally recognised when he was presented with the Freedom of Sunderland on 7 October 1921.
, Sunderland, in 1996. More than 44,000 tabloid copies are printed each day, which sell for 45p each.
Storey originally founded the paper to fill a gap in both the newspaper and political markets. Although the 100,000-strong population of Sunderland was served by two weekly newspapers, there were no daily papers, and none at all reflecting the Radical views held by Storey and his partners. He promised readers in the first edition that, if things went wrong, the 'Echo would try its best to put them right'. But he added: "Always with moderation and without esteeming all those who oppose us as fools and knaves." Early copies of the Echo also included lengthy reports of Liberal meetings, and critical articles on Liberal opponents.
The Sunderland Echo was launched with an initial investment of £3,500, raised by donations of £500 each from Storey and his business partners. Those joining the venture were: Quaker banker Edward Backhouse
, shipbroker and MP Edward Temperley Gourley
, shipbuilder and MP Charles Palmer, newspaper editor Richard Ruddock
, rope-maker Thomas Glaholm
and draper
Thomas Scott Turnbull
. Only Ruddock, however, had any knowledge of newspapers and the money was quickly used up.
Ruddock, Gourley and Palmer withdrew from the venture early on and Storey took over their shares. A further £7,000 in investment enabled the remaining partners to abandon the "wheezing flat-bed press" and, in July 1876, the Echo was moved to a new premises at 14 Bridge Street, Sunderland. Bridge Street was to remain the home of The Echo for the next 100 years and, in 1923, Storey paid a visit to mark the paper's 50th anniversary. He just two years later.
Besides the Sunderland Echo
, Storey also started the Tyneside Daily Echo in Gateshead
in 1879, which was moved to Newcastle in 1880 and discontinued in 1888. But it was a partnership with Andrew Carnegie
, from 1882 to 1885, which really saw his newspaper business take off. The pair started several new papers and bought up many existing ones. Their chain included the Wolverhampton
Express and Wolverhampton Star, which was amalgamated as the Express and Star by the syndicate in 1884. Other papers in their stable were the Hampshire
Telegraph, Portsmouth Evening News, the London Echo and the North Eastern Daily and Weekly Gazettes at Middlesbrough
. Two papers which the syndicate tried, but failed, to buy were the Shields Gazette
and the Northern Echo.
One of its last purchases was the Northern Daily Mail, in Hartlepool
. When the syndicate broke up in 1885, Storey retained the Northern Daily Mail, the Hampshire Telegraph, the Portsmouth Evening News, and his own Sunderland and Tyneside Echoes. These papers were to become the basis of his new business idea, Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers.
(the elder son of Frederick Storey), who carried on with his grandfather's political activities too, joining Sunderland Brough Council in 1928 and being elected as the town's MP in the same year, holding this position until 1945.
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. He became a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Sunderland
Sunderland (UK Parliament constituency)
Sunderland was a borough constituency of the House of Commons, created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election until it was split into single-member seats of Sunderland North and Sunderland South for the 1950...
and the main founder of the Sunderland Echo
Sunderland Echo
The Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper serving the Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873,...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
.
Early life
Samuel Storey was born in SherburnSherburn
Sherburn may refer to:In County Durham:*Sherburn, County Durham, a village to the east of Durham*Sherburn Hill, a separate village to the east of Sherburn*Sherburn House, a hamlet to the south-west of Sherburn...
, near Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, on 13 January 1841. He was the sixth son of County Durham farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
Robert Storey. When Robert died in 1843, his mother moved to Newcastle, where Samuel Storey was educated at St Andrew’s School. He became a pupil-teacher there when he was 13 and then attended Durham Diocesan Training College from 1858-59.
After leaving college, Storey worked as a master at Birtley Church of England School from 1860-1864. However, when his mother moved from Newcastle to Monkwearmouth
Monkwearmouth
Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bishopwearmouth and Sunderland, the area now known as the East End. It includes the area around St. Peter's Church...
, Sunderland, in around 1858, he became increasingly involved in events in the town, helping to establish Sunderland Working Men’s Club in 1863. Storey married Mary Ann Addison, daughter of John Addison of Monkwearmouth, in April 1864. By the end of that year, he moved to Monkwearmouth as well. Following the move, he worked as a traveller for Glaholm and Robson, a rope manufacturer, for three years before setting up on his own as an accountant.
Business life
It was in October 1865 that Storey and Thomas Steel, a Sunderland solicitor, set up the Atlas Building Society. Steel acted as the Society’s solicitor, while Storey was its manager. In 1870, Storey succeeded his father-in-law as Actuary of the Monkwearmouth Savings Bank, a post he held until 1876. In the same year, he joined his brother-in-law, J.G. Addison, as a partner in the timber firm, Armstrong, Addison & Co. The 1870s also saw Storey speculate successfully in building land, mostly in the Monkwearmouth and East Boldon areas.Political life
Storey became involved in local politics from the time he moved to Sunderland. He worked for the Whig candidate, Henry Fenwick, in the 1865 General ElectionUnited Kingdom general election, 1865
The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals, led by Lord Palmerston, increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to more than 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.Palmerston died later in the same...
but, the following year, helped to persuade the Radical
Radicals (UK)
The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.-Background:...
John Candlish
John Candlish
John Candlish was a British glass bottle manufacturer and Liberal Party politician.-Early life:Candlish was born in Tarset, Northumberland, the eldest son of John Candlish, a farmer, and his wife, Mary, née Robson...
to oppose Fenwick when he had to stand for re-election on taking office. Candlish was successful in the 1866 by-election and, from then on, Storey became increasingly prominent in the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
in Sunderland. His influence extended to North Durham, too, from 1874, when he helped to found the Sunderland and North Durham Liberal Club. Sunderland Liberal Association followed in 1876.
In 1868, Storey stood unsuccessfully for Sunderland’s town council for Monkwearmouth Ward, but a year later he was successful. He remained a councillor for the ward until his election as an Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
in 1877 and he stayed on the council until he resigned in 1890. During the 1870s, he led a radical revival in the council and was elected Mayor in 1876, 1877 and, following the death of T.S. Turnbull in April 1880.
In April 1881, Storey was elected MP for Sunderland at the by-election which followed the resignation of Sir Henry Havelock-Allan. He was re-elected at the General Elections of 1885, 1886 and 1892, but was defeated in 1895. He stood as Liberal candidate for Newcastle in 1900, when he was defeated, and as an Independent Tariff Reformer in Sunderland in the January 1910 election. He was elected this time, but retired at the December 1910 election.
Storey’s political opinions were often at variance with his party’s. In particular, he advocated Home Rule for Ireland several years before William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
made this Liberal party policy and Storey’s public opposition to Liberal policy on Ireland in 1880 gave the moderate Liberals in Sunderland a chance to prevent his election to Parliament in 1881. In the event, however, the radical wing was strong enough to counter this and secure his unopposed return.
In October 1903, he caused a considerable stir by resigning as Chairman of the Northern Liberal Association in order to become a Tariff Reformer, and he devoted most of his energies in the ensuing decade to that cause. He failed, however, to win the Sunderland Liberal Association over to Tariff Reform in 1904 but, the following year, was a prime mover in the formation of the Northern Tariff Reform Federation. This, he hoped, would bring together men of all shades of political opinion, since he insisted the question was an economic, not a party political, matter.
Storey spoke at meetings all over the country and won the Sunderland seat at the January 1910 election as an Independent Tariff Reform candidate. In the same year, he bought the Newcastle Daily Journal, to help further the Tariff Reform cause in the North - the Tariff Reformers having been deprived of their ‘loudest local advocate’ when the North Mail was sold to a group of Liberals headed by Sir Christopher Furness in 1906.
Local politics remained a constant interest for Storey too, and he was a member of Durham County Council from 1892 to 1913. He was first elected to the authority as an Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
in 1892, then as a councillor from 1898-1907, and again as an Alderman from 1907-1913. He served as vice-chairman of the council from 1892-1894 and 1897-1898, and as chairman from 1894-97, and from 1898-1905. During this time, his major concerns were sanitary matters and education. Storey's contribution to Sunderland history, both politically and through his newspaper business, was formally recognised when he was presented with the Freedom of Sunderland on 7 October 1921.
Publishing life
Samuel Storey was one of the original seven founders of the Sunderland Echo, a regional daily newspaper which is still published today. The first edition of the Echo was printed on 22 December 1873, on a flat-bed press in Press Lane, Sunderland. Five hundred copies of the four-page issue were produced at noon and 4 p.m., and sold for a ha'penny each. Today the Echo is printed on a £12 million full colour press, which was installed at its purpose-built base in PennywellPennywell
Pennywell is one of the UK's largest post-war social housing schemes, and is situated in the central-west area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England. Pennywell is the largest local authority housing estate in the City of Sunderland...
, Sunderland, in 1996. More than 44,000 tabloid copies are printed each day, which sell for 45p each.
Storey originally founded the paper to fill a gap in both the newspaper and political markets. Although the 100,000-strong population of Sunderland was served by two weekly newspapers, there were no daily papers, and none at all reflecting the Radical views held by Storey and his partners. He promised readers in the first edition that, if things went wrong, the 'Echo would try its best to put them right'. But he added: "Always with moderation and without esteeming all those who oppose us as fools and knaves." Early copies of the Echo also included lengthy reports of Liberal meetings, and critical articles on Liberal opponents.
The Sunderland Echo was launched with an initial investment of £3,500, raised by donations of £500 each from Storey and his business partners. Those joining the venture were: Quaker banker Edward Backhouse
Edward Backhouse
Edward Backhouse was a philanthropist, Quaker minister and a writer on church history. He was also one of the founding fathers of the Sunderland Echo newspaper.-Early life:...
, shipbroker and MP Edward Temperley Gourley
Edward Temperley Gourley
Sir Edward Temperley Gourley, VD was a coal fitter, shipowner and politician born in Sunderland, England. He was knighted for his political work.-Early life:...
, shipbuilder and MP Charles Palmer, newspaper editor Richard Ruddock
Richard Ruddock
Lancelot Nixon Richard Ruddock - known as Richard Ruddock - was a reporter, newspaper editor and a founder of the Sunderland Echo in the 19th century.-Early life:...
, rope-maker Thomas Glaholm
Thomas Glaholm
Thomas Glaholm was the son of a Newcastle steam flour miller. He went on to open a successful rope manufacturing plant in Sunderland and was a founder member of a daily provincial newspaper, the Sunderland Echo.-Early life:...
and draper
Draper
Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
Thomas Scott Turnbull
Thomas Scott Turnbull
Thomas Scott Turnbull was the son of a Newcastle saddler. He went on to open one of the largest drapery houses in the North East of England, was a founder member of a daily provincial newspaper and served as Mayor of Sunderland.-Early life:Thomas Scott Turnbull, the son of saddler John Turnbull,...
. Only Ruddock, however, had any knowledge of newspapers and the money was quickly used up.
Ruddock, Gourley and Palmer withdrew from the venture early on and Storey took over their shares. A further £7,000 in investment enabled the remaining partners to abandon the "wheezing flat-bed press" and, in July 1876, the Echo was moved to a new premises at 14 Bridge Street, Sunderland. Bridge Street was to remain the home of The Echo for the next 100 years and, in 1923, Storey paid a visit to mark the paper's 50th anniversary. He just two years later.
Sunderland Echo
The Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper serving the Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873,...
, Storey also started the Tyneside Daily Echo in Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
in 1879, which was moved to Newcastle in 1880 and discontinued in 1888. But it was a partnership with Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
, from 1882 to 1885, which really saw his newspaper business take off. The pair started several new papers and bought up many existing ones. Their chain included the Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
Express and Wolverhampton Star, which was amalgamated as the Express and Star by the syndicate in 1884. Other papers in their stable were the Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
Telegraph, Portsmouth Evening News, the London Echo and the North Eastern Daily and Weekly Gazettes at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
. Two papers which the syndicate tried, but failed, to buy were the Shields Gazette
Shields Gazette
The Shields Gazette, established in 1849, is a daily evening newspaper. It is the oldest provincial evening newspaper in the United Kingdom....
and the Northern Echo.
One of its last purchases was the Northern Daily Mail, in Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
. When the syndicate broke up in 1885, Storey retained the Northern Daily Mail, the Hampshire Telegraph, the Portsmouth Evening News, and his own Sunderland and Tyneside Echoes. These papers were to become the basis of his new business idea, Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers.
Personal life
Samuel Storey died in 1925, aged 84, several months after the death of his eldest son, Frederick George Storey. The chairmanship of his company passed to his grandson, SamuelSamuel Storey, Baron Buckton
Samuel Storey, Baron Buckton , known as Sir Samuel Storey, 1st Baronet, from 1960 to 1966, was a British Conservative politician....
(the elder son of Frederick Storey), who carried on with his grandfather's political activities too, joining Sunderland Brough Council in 1928 and being elected as the town's MP in the same year, holding this position until 1945.
Further reading
- Samuel Storey of Sunderland, his life and career, by P. J. Storey (ISBN#??)