Henry Edwin Fenn (1850–1913) was a British journalist, a fixture in the divorce courts of London, and the author of ''Thirty-five years in the divorce court'' (1910).

Early life

Henry Edwin Fenn was born in

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

, in the Parish of St. Pancras, London on 25 May 1850 to John Fenn and Mary Ann Fenn.

Family

Fenn married Blanche Julia Crispin at St Mark's Regents Park in the London Parish of St Pancras on 24 October 1874. They had six children of whom one pre-deceased them. In 1911, Fenn was living at 10 Crayford Road,

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Camden, Camden. The neighbourhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History ...

, with his wife, their daughter Ada Kate Fenn, and son Harold Theodore Fenn.

Career

Fenn spent his career reporting on divorce and probate cases in the London courts, including 30 years with ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', which culminated in the publication of ''Thirty-five years in the divorce court'' in 1910. The book was dedicated "to my dear wife". It combined pen-portraits of leading lawyers at the divorce bar with anecdotes and stories of cases heard and Fenn's observations on human nature, private investigators, and the role of the press in judiciously editing the facts of the more salacious cases in their reporting. ''

The Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' noted that 35 years in the courts had made Fenn cynical and led him to the conclusion that money was a greater motivating factor in cases than sentiment. '' The Daily News'' (London) felt that Fenn had sacrificed accuracy for readability and that many of his anecdotes were hardly new. They sympathised with Fenn's need to "eke out his scanty material with quotations hardly less trite than some of his anecdotes"."In the Divorce Court"
''The Daily News'', 22 August 1910, p. 5. British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 30 December 2015. Fenn was a fellow of the

Institute of Journalists The Chartered Institute of Journalists is a professional association for journalists and is the senior such body in the UK and the oldest in the world. History The ''Chartered Institute of Journalists'' was proposed during a meeting in Manchest ...

, a member of The London Press Club, and the senior member of the Council of the Newspaper Press Fund.

Death

Fenn died at his home at Carlton Road, Tufnell Park, London, on 3 November 1913."Mr. H.E. Fenn", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 4 November 1913, p. 11.

Selected publications

*''Thirty-five years in the divorce court''. T. Werner Laurie, London, 1910.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenn, Henry Journalists from London 1850 births Divorce in the United Kingdom 1913 deaths The Daily Telegraph people 19th-century English businesspeople