Frederick James Higginbottom (21 October 1859 – 12 May 1943) was a British journalist and newspaper editor. The son of a mathematics tutor, Higginbottom was born in

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He began his career as a journalist with the ''Southport Daily News'' at the age of fifteen, and became the editor of the ''Southport Visiter'' just five years later. Though a small paper, it provided him with an opportunity to demonstrate his skills, and he was hired by the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and ...

in 1881 to serve as their

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

correspondent in 1882. Higginbottom moved to London in 1892, where he served briefly as a correspondent for an Irish newspaper before founding the

London Press Exchange The London Press Exchange was founded in 1892 by Frederick Higginbottom and Reginald J.Sykes, becoming a significant Government advertising agency during World War II. It merged with the Leo Burnett agency in 1969. The agency also produced pro ...

, which provided news and advertising for the provincial press. He also started working for the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

'' as their parliamentary correspondent. In 1900, he left for a position with the ''

Daily Chronicle The ''Daily Chronicle'' was a left-wing British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the '' Daily News'' to become the '' News Chronicle''. Foundation The ''Daily Chronicle'' was developed by Edward Lloyd out of a ...

'', but returned to the ''Pall Mall Gazette'' soon afterward. In 1909, Higginbottom was named editor of the ''Pall Mall Gazette'' by its owner, William Waldorf Astor. As editor, Higginbottom proved capable but unimaginative. He did little to change the paper's position on the issues of the day, nor did he succeed in restoring the ''Gazette'' to profitability. After three years as editor, Astor replaced him with J. L. Garvin and Higginbottom returned to his position as parliamentary correspondent. He continued with the ''Pall Mall Gazette'' (apart from a brief period as director of press intelligence for the Ministry of National Service in 1917–18) until 1919, when he moved to the ''Daily Chronicle''. He worked for the ''Chronicle'' until his retirement in 1930.Porter, op. cit.

Works

* ''The Vivid Life: A Journalist's Career'' (London: Simpkin Marshall Limited, 1934)

Works

References

Further reading