Manchester Examiner And Times
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The ''Manchester Examiner'' was a newspaper based in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, England, that was founded around 1845–1846. Initially intended as an organ to promote the idea of
Manchester Liberalism Manchester Liberalism (also called the Manchester School, Manchester Capitalism and Manchesterism) comprises the political, economic and social movements of the 19th century that originated in Manchester. Led by Richard Cobden and John Bright ...
, a decline in its later years led to a takeover by a group who intended to use it to promote Liberal Unionism without actually being directly associated with the
Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
(LUP). That scheme soon failed due to severe financial problems, leading the LUP to take control of the newspaper for a brief period just before the 1892 general election campaign. It was then sold at a significant loss to a competitor, who also owned the '' Manchester Courier''. The last edition was published in 1894 before it was absorbed by the '' Empire News''.


Manchester Liberalism

The ''Manchester Examiner'' was established as a rival to the radical '' Manchester Times'', which its proprietors considered not sufficiently representative of their Liberal viewpoints. The initial owners were Thomas Ballantyne, John Bright, Alexander Ireland, William McKerrow and Edward Watkin. The first edition of the ''Manchester Examiner'' was published on 10 January 1846. It absorbed the ''Manchester Times'' in 1848 and from June 1855, by now being run by George Wilson, the newspaper was published every morning at a price of one penny. The price was set to undercut rivals such as the ''
Manchester 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 did so for some time until the rivals responded. Despite this competitive advantage, and in common with many other local newspapers, its influence in London was low and it suffered from difficulties in distribution. In 1856, Richard Cobden was inspired to become involved in establishing the '' Morning Star'' in London as an imitator of the ''Manchester Examiner'' that would disseminate the school of Manchester radicalism more widely, but it was of an inferior journalistic standard and had little political impact. The newspaper reached its point of greatest influence during the editorship of Henry Dunckley but by 1888 it was in severe decline. There had been criticism of Dunckley's habit of leaving work for home while the bulk of the day's news was still arriving at the offices, and also of the editorial wavering over the issue of
Home Rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
, in contrast to the strong support shown for it by the ''Manchester Guardian'' that had caused the latter to surge ahead of its competitor. Around the end of 1888, together with its companion newspaper, the ''Manchester Weekly Times'', the ''Manchester Examiner'' was sold to the Manchester Press Company, a business headed by Sir Joseph Lee.


Liberal Unionism

The new owners, who were Liberal Unionists, believed that it could be a serious rival to the
Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
-supporting ''Manchester Courier'' and the Gladstonian Liberalist ''Manchester Guardian''. Despite originally believing that they could revive and run the newspaper without explicit support from the Liberal Unionist Party, by 1890 they were struggling to sustain the newspaper business for which they had paid around £98,000. Various requests were made to Liberal grandees, such as Lord Derby, in search of further funds but those people were reluctant to throw good money in the direction of what they perceived to be a failing enterprise, even when the expertise of W. H. Smith was called upon to vouch that it could be made viable once more. Nonetheless, and by means that are uncertain, the party did in fact provide money and paid £8900 in the run-up to the 1892 general election to take direct control. An attempt to arrest the decline was made by founding the ''Manchester Evening Times'', which it was hoped would provide support for the morning newspaper in a manner similar to the successful introduction of the ''
Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
'' by the publishers of the ''Manchester Guardian''. The venture proving to be unsuccessful, the evening newspaper was closed after 49 issues. The new owners also reduced the price of the ''Manchester Examiner'' to halfpence but that, too, did not resolve the problems. In November 1891, it was sold to a syndicate headed by Thomas Sowler, the owner of the ''Manchester Courier'', for what Lord Wolmer at the time said was a "net sum recovered" of £390. Wolmer, himself a Liberal Unionist, had been a vocal supporter of efforts to keep the newspaper going at least until the election, telling the party's leader, Lord Hartington, Publication ceased in 1894 when it was absorbed by the ''Empire News''.


See also

* Abraham Walter Paulton


References

Notes Citations {{reflist 1845 establishments in the United Kingdom 1894 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Newspapers established in 1845 Newspapers disestablished in 1894 Newspapers published in Manchester Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Liberal Unionist Party