Howell Arthur Keir Gwynne,
CH (3 September 1865 – 26 June 1950) was a
Welsh author, newspaper editor of the
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
''
Morning Post
''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''.
History
The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning ...
'' from 1911 to 1937.
Early life
He was the son of Richard Gwynne, a schoolmaster and his wife Charlotte Lloyd, born at
Kilvey;
Llewellyn Henry Gwynne was his brother.
He attended
Swansea Grammar School.
Journalistic career
Gwynne began his career as a foreign correspondent in the Balkans, and then became the
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
news correspondent in Romania.
[ Holmes, Colin. "Gwynne, H. A." In Levy, Richard S. (ed.) ''Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution''. ABC-CLIO, 2005 (p.286)] Early in his career, Gwynne was part of the group of journalists and writers including also
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
,
Perceval Landon
Perceval Landon (1869–1927) was an English writer, traveller and journalist, now best remembered for his classic and much reprinted ghost story "Thurnley Abbey".
Family
Perceval Landon was born in Hastings on 29 March 1869. He was the son of ...
,
Julian Ralph
Julian Ralph (May 27, 1853 – January 20, 1903) was an author and journalist, most noted for his work on ''The Sun'', a newspaper of New York City.
Biography
Julian Ralph was born in New York City on May 27, 1853. At 15 years of age he was a p ...
and F.W. Buxton who helped start a newspaper, ''The Friend'', for
Lord Roberts for the British troops in
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
, the newly captured capital of the
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...
during the
Boer War
The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...
.
Kipling and Gwynne remained friends for the rest of Kipling's life.
Gwynne married Edith Douglas, daughter of Thomas Ash Lane, in 1907.
In 1911, Gwynne became editor of ''The Morning Post''. The owner of the paper was
Lilias, Countess Bathurst (1871–1965), a.k.a. Lady Bathurst, wife of
Seymour Henry Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst (1864–1943). The Bathursts sold the paper in 1924. Gwynne held
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
,
imperialist
Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism fo ...
and
anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...
political views, and used his editorship of the ''Morning Post'' to promote these positions.
Gwynne was a strong supporter of the British war effort in the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, supporting
conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
and championing
Lord Kitchener as the military leader that Gwynne believed was best qualified to help Britain win the war.
Gwynne also befriended
Edward Carson
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...
, whose support for
Irish Unionism
Unionism in Ireland is a political tradition that professes loyalty to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, crown of the United Kingdom and to the union it represents with England, Scotland and Wales. The overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Pro ...
Gwynne shared. After the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
, Gwynne became an outspoken opponent of
Communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
.
Later, "
ke many another elderly
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
in the nineteen-twenties
iplingreacted at the news of events in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, by moving further to the right in politics". Gwynne's ''Post'' "continued to fight its rearguard action, and
iplingcontinued to urge Gwynne to take stronger stands". Kipling "was for years closely associated with the editorial policy of the ''Post'' and on terms of friendship with Lady Bathurst ...,
ndspent many week-ends at
Cirencester
Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...
". Gwynne's relationship with Kipling remained close throughout the latter's life — he was a pallbearer at Kipling's burial in
Poet's Corner
Poets' Corner is a section of the southern transept of Westminster Abbey in London, England, where many poets, playwrights, and writers are buried or commemorated.
The first poet interred in Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400. Willia ...
at
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
in 1936.
Gwynne died at his home in
Little Easton
Little Easton is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The village is situated approximately east from the town of Bishop's Stortford, and north-west from the county town of Chelmsford. Little Easton parish is defined at the west by t ...
, Essex on 26 June 1950.
Gwynne and ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion''
In 1920, Gwynne caused controversy when he wrote an introduction to a book titled ''The Cause of World Unrest''. Gwynne's introduction argued that there was a Jewish conspiracy to promote Communism. Gwynne cited the book ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...
'' (later exposed as a forgery) in his introduction. While Gwynne did not take a stance on whether ''The Protocols'' were authentic or not, he did claim that "the Jewish Bolsheviks" in Russia were "carrying out almost to the letter" the program outlined in ''The Protocols''. Gwynne's articles linking Jews and Communism resulted in him receiving a letter of complaint from the Jewish journalist Leopold Greenberg, who accused Gwynne of promoting Antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
.
Works
*'' The Army on Itself'' (1904)
*'' The Cause of World Unrest'' (1920) (editor), collection of a series of ''Post'' articles based on the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion
''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...
*''The Will and the Bill'' (1923)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwynne, Howard Arthur
1865 births
1950 deaths
Antisemitism in the United Kingdom
Welsh journalists
British anti-communists
British conspiracy theorists
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Writers from Swansea
Protocols of the Elders of Zion