JOHN THADEUS

See also:

• JOHN THADEUS DELANE (1817-1879)

DELANE (1817-1879)  , editor of The Times (London), was born on the 11th of October 1817 in London . He was the second son of Mr W . F . A . Delane, a barrister, of an old Irish family, who about 1832 was appointed by Mr Walter financial manager of The Times . While still a boy he attracted Mr Walter's attention, and it was always intended that he should find work on the paper . He received a good general education at private schools and King's College, London, and also at Magdalen Hall, Oxford; after taking his degree in 184o he at once began work on the paper, though later he read for the bar, being called in 1847 . In 1841 he succeeded Thomas Barnes as editor, a post which he occupied for thirty-six years . He from the first obtained the best introductions into society and the chief political circles, and had a position there such as no journalist had previously enjoyed, using his opportunities with a sure intuition for the way in which events would move . His staff included some of the most brilliant men of the day, who worked together with a common ideal . The result to the paper, which in those days had hardly any real competitor in English journalism, was an excellence of information which gave it great power . (See NEws-PAPERS.) Delane was a man of many interests and great judgment; capable of long application and concentrated attention, with power to seize always on the main point at issue, and rapidly master the essential facts in the most complicated affair .

His general policy was to keep the paper a

national organ of opinion above party, but with a tendency to sympathize with the Liberal movements of the day . He admired Palmerston and respected Lord Aberdeen, and was of considerable use to both; and it was Lord Aberdeen himself who, in 1845, told him of the impending repeal of the Corn Laws, an incident round which many incorrect stories have gathered . The history, however, of the events during the thirteen administrations, between 1841 and 1877, in which The Times, and therefore Delane, played an important part cannot here be recapitulated . In 1877 his health gave way, and he retired from the editorship; and on the 22nd of November 1879 he died at Ascot . A biography by his nephew, Arthur Irwin Dasent, was published in 1908 .