''The Lady'' is one of Britain's longest-running

women's magazines This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *''Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *'' All ...

. It has been in continuous publication since 1885 and is based in London. It is particularly notable for its classified advertisements for

domestic service A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

and

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

; it also has extensive listings of holiday properties.

History and profile

The magazine was founded by

Thomas Gibson Bowles Thomas Gibson Bowles (15 January 1842 – 12 January 1922), known generally as Tommy Bowles, was an English publisher and parliamentarian. He founded the magazines '' The Lady'' and the English ''Vanity Fair'', and became a Member of Parliame ...

(1842–1922), the maternal grandfather of the aristocratic and controversial

Mitford sisters The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family, whose principal line had its seats at Mitford, Northumberland. Several heads of the family served as High Sheriff of Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberlan ...

. Bowles also founded the English magazine '' Vanity Fair''. 38 to 40 Bedford Street, City of Westminster

Bowles gave the Mitford girls' father ( David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale) his first job:

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the magazine. Early contributors included

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), known as Nancy Mitford, was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London ...

and

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

, who compiled a puzzle for the title. In November 2008, Bowles' great-grandson,

Ben Budworth Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

, took the reins as publisher on behalf of the family and set about modernising its style. As part of this process, Budworth appointed

Rachel Johnson Rachel Sabiha Johnson (born 3 September 1965) is a British journalist, television presenter, and author who has appeared frequently on political discussion panels, including '' The Pledge'' on Sky News and BBC One's debate programme, '' Questi ...

as the magazine's ninth editor in September 2009. She took over from

Arline Usden Arline Usden (14 October 1937 – 3 August 2013) was a British journalist. She rose to be editor of '' The Lady'' Life Usden was born in Crumpsall in Manchester in 1937. She learnt to type when she left the Manchester High School for Girls when ...

who became an editor at large. A

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

programme, ''The Lady and the Revamp'', screened in March 2010, followed the new editor in her quest to raise awareness of the magazine and increase circulation. Johnson's axing of ''The Lady Laughs'', a cartoon series by Patricia Drennan that ran from 2000 to 2009, led to complaints by readers. In response, Johnson would reply with old issues of the magazine to show how bland it historically had been.

Matt Warren Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

was appointed the tenth editor in January 2012. In November 2013, he was named Editor of the Year (Women's Brand Weekly or Fortnightly) by the British Society of Magazine Editors. In 2014, he was Highly Commended in the Editor of the Year category at the PPA Independent Publisher Awards. The magazine specialises in quirky, entertaining and informative features and quality writing. Sam Taylor became the magazine's eleventh editor in August 2015. Under her editorship, the magazine has been shortlisted for multiple awards, including PPA Cover of the Year (2016), PPA Cover of the Year 2017 and BSME Cover of the Year 2018. Sam Taylor was shortlisted for Editor of The Year, Women's Brand 2016 at the BSME awards. ''The Lady'' moved to Borehamwood in Hertfordshire and Bylaugh Hall in Norfolk on 1 October 2019. Helen Budworth is the current Acting Editor as of October 2022.

In popular culture

The popular television series ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

'' mentions ''The Lady'' more than once in the context of advertising for ladies' maids and housekeepers. In ''

Good Omens ''Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch'' is a 1990 novel written as a collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The book is a comedy about the birth of the son of Satan and the c ...

'', a character advertises in ''The Lady'' for a nanny. In March 2010, on the long-running television series, '' Coronation Street'', Rita Sullivan found advertised in ''The Lady'' the services of Lewis Archer, a male escort, who would later seduce another character and steal her life savings.

History and profile

In popular culture

References

External links