John Walter Jr. (23 February 1776 – 28 July 1847) was an English newspaper editor and politician. He was the son of John Walter, the founder of ''

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 ...

'', and succeeded his father as the newspaper's second editor.

Biography

Walter was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

. About 1798 he was associated with his elder brother in the management of his father's business, and in 1803 became not only sole manager, but also editor of ''The Times''. He found ''The Times'' an unremarkable journal, with little influence and no independent means of checking. He left it in 1847 a great organ of public opinion, deferred to throughout Europe, consulted and courted by cabinet ministers at home, and in intimate relations with the best sources of independent information in every European capital. He added complete business knowledge of details, and untiring energy in the pursuit of excellence in literary quality, in typography, in mechanical appliances, and in the organization for the collection of news. Walter expressed his opposition to the administration of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

, which cost him government advertisements and the loss of his appointment as printer to the Customs. It also brought the hostility of officials. When the

King of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Thro ...

sent him, via the Portuguese ambassador, a service of gold plate, he returned it. Walter insisted on the anonymity of those whom he hired. From about 1810, he delegated to others editorial supervision, first to Sir John Stoddart, then to Thomas Barnes, and in 1841 to

John Thadeus Delane John Thadeus Delane (11 October 1817 – 22 November 1879), editor of ''The Times'' (London), was born in London. He was the second son of W.F.A. Delane, a barrister, of an old Irish family, who about 1832 was appointed by ''Times'' publi ...

, though never the ultimate direction of policy. In 1830, Walter purchased an estate called Bearwood at Sindlesham in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

where he built a house, afterwards rebuilt by his son. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff#United King ...

the same year. Two years later, he was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for the county, and retained his seat until 1837, as a member of the Whigs. In 1841 he was returned to Parliament for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, but was unseated the following year on petition. He was twice married, firstly to Elizabeth Anne Gregory, and by his second wife, Mary Smythe, had a family. His eldest son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, also worked in the newspaper. He died in London on 28 July 1847. The Walter Fountain was erected in

by his son in 1866 in his memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, John 1776 births 1847 deaths People from Winnersh People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood English male journalists Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Berkshire 19th-century British newspaper publishers (people) High sheriffs of Berkshire Walter family UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 The Times people