Samuel Kerkham Ratcliffe (1868–1958) was an English journalist and lecturer.

Life

Ratcliffe's father owned a

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

flour mill, but moved to work as a railway clerk in Manchester when that business failed. Samuel was sent to be live with an aunt and attend school in London. He started working as a journalist for '' The Echo'', edited by

John Passmore Edwards John Passmore Edwards (24 March 1823 – 22 April 1911)ODNB article by A. J. A. Morris, 'Edwards, John Passmore (1823–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 200 accessed 15 Nove ...

, eventually rising to be leader-writer.I. D. MacKillop, ''The British Ethical Societies'', Cambridge, 1986, pp.66-7, 70, 76. In May 1902 Ratcliffe joined the Indian English-language newspaper '' The Statesman'' as its assistant editor under Paul Knight. Later that year he met

Sister Nivedita Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 – 13 October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She wa ...

, who would become a lifelong friend. In 1903 Ratcliffe became the acting editor of ''The Statesman'', and continued with the newspaper until 1907 when he was forced to resign for espousing Indian nationalism. Returning to London, he worked for the ''Daily News'' under

A. G. Gardiner Alfred George Gardiner (2 June 1865 – 3 March 1946) was an English journalist, editor and author. His essays, written under the alias "Alpha of the Plough", are highly regarded. He was also Chairman of the National Anti-Sweating League, an ad ...

, as well as writing for 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 ...

'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', the ''Nation'' and the ''

Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals intent on promoting their v ...

''. Ratcliffe was editor of the ''

Sociological Review ''The Sociological Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of sociology, including anthropology, criminology, philosophy, education, gender, medicine, and organization. The journal is published by SAGE Publishin ...

'' from 1910 to 1917.Mary Lago, ''India's prisoner: a biography of Edward John Thompson, 1886-1946'', p.342 Ratcliffe began lecturing for the

South Place Ethical Society The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United King ...

in 1912. In 1913 he delivered a series of lectures to the League of Political Education in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. For the next three decades he spent the winter months lecturing across the United States: "It is probable", suggested his ''

'' obituarist, "that no Englishman ever travelled so many miles in America or was heard by so many thousands of people there as he."'Obituary: S. K. Ratcliffe', ''The Manchester Guardian'', 2 September 1958, p.12 He also continued lecturing in England, where he became a member of the South Place Ethical Society's panel in 1915 and in the 1930s was the society's most regular lecturer.

Personal life

Ratcliffe's son was the scientist

Francis Ratcliffe Francis Noble Ratcliffe OBE (11 January 1904 – 8 December 1970) was an Australian zoologist and conservationist. Ratcliffe was born a British citizen in Calcutta, India. He was educated at Berkhamsted School and the University of Oxford in ...

, and one of his two daughters Katherine Monica Ratcliffe (1911-2012) married the neurophysiologist W. Grey Walter and their only child was

Nicolas Walter Nicolas Hardy Walter (22 November 1934 – 7 March 2000) was a British anarchist and atheist writer, speaker and activist. He was a member of the Committee of 100 and Spies for Peace, and wrote on topics of anarchism and humanism. Backgroun ...

his grandson. After the couple divorced in 1945, Monica married

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

scientist

Arnold Beck Arnold Hugh William Beck (7 August 1916 – 11 October 1997) was a British scientist and electrical engineer, a specialist in plasma and microwaves, Professor of Engineering in the University of Cambridge. Early life and education The you ...

with whom she brought up Nicolas.

References

External links

* * * 1868 births 1958 deaths English male journalists British lecturers Members of the Fabian Society People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society English expatriates in India {{UK-journalist-stub