George Allen Hutt (20 September 1901 – 10 August 1973) was a British journalist, editor, newspaper designer and Communist and trade union activist.

Life

Hutt came from a family of printers, while his mother Marion was a headmistress. He attended

Kilburn Grammar School Kilburn Grammar School was an English grammar school which opened in 1898 in Kilburn, north-west London. The school ceased to exist in 1967. History The school's history is detailed in a book by Richard E Brock. It was founded by the Rev. Dr. ...

and then

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

, graduating with a first-class honours degree in history in 1923. As a young man Hutt became a convinced communist and member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. After beginning a career as a writer and journalist, he became an expert on newspaper production, frequently advising newspapers on their design. His clients included ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

Reynold's News ''Reynold's News'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, founded as ''Reynolds's Weekly Newspaper''Joanne Shattock, ''The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'', p.2908 by George W. M. Reynolds in 1850, who became its first edit ...

''. He was also newspaper consultant to the

typesetting machine Typesetting is the composition of text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other ...

company

Monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

. He wrote many reviews and books, including ''The Post-war History Of The British Working Class'' (1937) and
British Trade Unionism
' (1941). Hutt was active in the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

for many years. He was longtime editor of the union's journal, ''The Journalist'', and was the union's

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

in the year 1967. His book ''Newspaper Design'' (1960, revised 1967) was very successful. Conservative journalist Arthur Christiansen, whose work was praised in the text, described it as "a prodigious service to journalism" and "destined to be a standard work for years". After his death an updated edition was written by Bob James. At the time of Hutt's retirement in 1966 he was chief sub-editor of the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...

'', but he continued working as a freelance consultant. He was named a Royal Designer for Industry in 1970.

Family

Hutt's son Sam Hutt (born 1940) is a

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

, but is better known as a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

singer-songwriter and television presenter under the stage name

Hank Wangford Samuel Hutt (born 15 November 1940), known by the stage name Hank Wangford, is an English country and western songwriter. "Hank is a good smoke screen. He can do things I can't do. He's my clown," says Dr. Hutt, who has been struggling to ba ...

. Allen Hutt later married Avis Hutt (née Askey, formerly Clarke), a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

and

health visitor Health visitors are professional individuals engaged in public health work within the domestic setting, predominantly found in countries with state-funded health systems. They are distinct from district nurses, who provide clinical healthcare, do ...

who was the widow of communist surgeon Ruscoe Clarke. Collections of Hutt's personal papers are held by

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...

, Miyazaki University and the

People's History Museum The People's History Museum (the National Museum of Labour History until 2001) in Manchester, England, is the United Kingdom's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of wor ...

. As a communist activist, the Metropolitan Police held a file of cuttings on Hutt's work, which has been released under

Freedom of Information legislation Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatis ...

References

External links

Books digitised by the Internet Archive
{{authority control 1901 births 1973 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge British typographers and type designers Royal Designers for Industry Presidents of the National Union of Journalists