Cornelius Brown
Encyclopedia
Cornelius Brown was a British
journalist
and historian
.
In 1874, 22-year-old Cornelius Brown was appointed editor of the Newark Advertiser
in nearby Newark-on-Trent
.
Over the next 33 years, Cornelius Brown became the author of seven major books, including the massive two-volume History of Newark, which took 15 years to write, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
.
Within months of taking the editor's chair, a young Mr Brown was ready to buy a half share in the newspaper, for which he paid Mr. Whiles £600.
The two partners agreed that until a working fund of £300 had been created out of the profits neither would draw more than £8 a month from the profits for his own use.
Mr. Whiles was to manage the business side while Mr. Brown was in charge of editorial matters.
The Advertiser was being printed in Nottingham
because there were no adequate facilities in Newark. But young Mr Brown found this a tedious disadvantage and in 1880 the firm took premises at the corner of Appletongate and Magnus Street to house a Wharfedale printing press.
Cornelius Brown married and set up home at Almar House, Westgate, Southwell
. It was there that his first child was born in 1881. She was named Ethel and later became Mrs R. P. Blatherwick.
Cornelius Brown already had one book to his credit The Annals of Newark and in 1882 came The Worthies of Notts. Then Mr Brown laid his author's pen aside for three or four years to concentrate on the second important step in the Advertiser story.
The Newark Advertiser Co Ltd was incorporated on September 19 1882.
Six weeks later half a dozen men met at the Middlegate offices of solicitors Newton and Wallis (now Tallents Godfrey). They were the subscribers to the Memorandum of Association of the Newark Advertiser Co Ltd namely Mr Brown, Major George Mark, Leycester Egerton Captain William Henry Coape, Oates MP Mr William Newzam Nicholson, Mr John Burton Barrow, and Mr William Newton.
They were all allocated shares as were four more men who had made application: Mr Joseph Gilstrap Branston, Mr William Evelyn, Denison Viscount Newark, (later MP for Newark) and Colonel James Thorpe.
Mr Barrow's interest in the firm was short-lived. Either he found a better use for his money or he had little faith in the new venture for he sold his four shares two and a half years later. Mr Branston followed suit the next year.
But at that meeting in 1882 the company got off the ground. Major Egerton was made chairman and Mr. Brown was appointed secretary, manager and editor at a salary of £200 a year.
That salary remained unchanged for 21 years, at the end of which time Mr Brown himself proposed that it should be cut to £156 because he was handing over the responsibility of night-work to a younger man.
Under young Mr Brown's editorship the Advertiser continued to flourish.
The board spent 50 shillings (£2.50) on a treat for the workmen to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee
. And though it was also decided to buy a new printing press Mr Brown later reported that he could alter the present one to make it do.
The economy-minded Mr Brown was still travelling daily from Southwell but in 1889 a house was built for him next to the works. It was built by Brown and Son at a cost of £490.
The Advertiser began to move into a technological age, buying a 2hp gas engine to supplement the steam power, and in 1895 installing the telephone.
Two years later came the first Linotype machine
on hire. Within months came electric light installed at a cost of £100.
Mr Whiles, original owner of the Advertiser, had maintained his connection with it as cashier and publisher, for the paper was still being published from Stodman Street. When he died in 1900 he was succeeded by his son Mr Herbert Whiles.
It is a fact of life that newspapers thrive on bad news and in February 1901 Mr Brown was able to report to the board that "owing to the death of Her Gracious Majesty they had been exceptionally busy and the paper for the last three weeks had sold extremely well."
It was in 1903 that Mr J. C. Kew came on to the Advertiser scene in a significant way. He had already been writing for the paper for some years and also ran a coal business at Beaumond Cross.
He was later to be chairman of Newark Rural District
Council for 21 years and during that time served two years as Mayor of Newark.
Mr Brown at the age of 51 decided to hand over some of his editorial responsibilities to Mr Kew who was then 35. It was a prophetic decision for just four years later Cornelius Brown died and Mr Kew became editor. Mr Brown had attended the October board meeting in 1907 but was taken ill ten days later after correcting the final proofs of his History of Newark. He died on November 4 without seeing the published version of Volume II.
The death of Cornelius Brown was a tragic blow to the Advertiser. But it is the way of newspapers to keep publishing on the appointed day whatever the circumstances.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
.
In 1874, 22-year-old Cornelius Brown was appointed editor of the Newark Advertiser
Newark Advertiser
The Newark Advertiser is a British regional newspaper, owned by Advertiser Group Newspapers, for the town of Newark-on-Trent and surrounding areas.- History :...
in nearby Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
.
Over the next 33 years, Cornelius Brown became the author of seven major books, including the massive two-volume History of Newark, which took 15 years to write, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
.
Within months of taking the editor's chair, a young Mr Brown was ready to buy a half share in the newspaper, for which he paid Mr. Whiles £600.
The two partners agreed that until a working fund of £300 had been created out of the profits neither would draw more than £8 a month from the profits for his own use.
Mr. Whiles was to manage the business side while Mr. Brown was in charge of editorial matters.
The Advertiser was being printed in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
because there were no adequate facilities in Newark. But young Mr Brown found this a tedious disadvantage and in 1880 the firm took premises at the corner of Appletongate and Magnus Street to house a Wharfedale printing press.
Cornelius Brown married and set up home at Almar House, Westgate, Southwell
Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Southwell is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, best known as the site of Southwell Minster, the seat of the Church of England diocese that covers Nottinghamshire...
. It was there that his first child was born in 1881. She was named Ethel and later became Mrs R. P. Blatherwick.
Cornelius Brown already had one book to his credit The Annals of Newark and in 1882 came The Worthies of Notts. Then Mr Brown laid his author's pen aside for three or four years to concentrate on the second important step in the Advertiser story.
The Newark Advertiser Co Ltd was incorporated on September 19 1882.
Six weeks later half a dozen men met at the Middlegate offices of solicitors Newton and Wallis (now Tallents Godfrey). They were the subscribers to the Memorandum of Association of the Newark Advertiser Co Ltd namely Mr Brown, Major George Mark, Leycester Egerton Captain William Henry Coape, Oates MP Mr William Newzam Nicholson, Mr John Burton Barrow, and Mr William Newton.
They were all allocated shares as were four more men who had made application: Mr Joseph Gilstrap Branston, Mr William Evelyn, Denison Viscount Newark, (later MP for Newark) and Colonel James Thorpe.
Mr Barrow's interest in the firm was short-lived. Either he found a better use for his money or he had little faith in the new venture for he sold his four shares two and a half years later. Mr Branston followed suit the next year.
But at that meeting in 1882 the company got off the ground. Major Egerton was made chairman and Mr. Brown was appointed secretary, manager and editor at a salary of £200 a year.
That salary remained unchanged for 21 years, at the end of which time Mr Brown himself proposed that it should be cut to £156 because he was handing over the responsibility of night-work to a younger man.
Under young Mr Brown's editorship the Advertiser continued to flourish.
The board spent 50 shillings (£2.50) on a treat for the workmen to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
. And though it was also decided to buy a new printing press Mr Brown later reported that he could alter the present one to make it do.
The economy-minded Mr Brown was still travelling daily from Southwell but in 1889 a house was built for him next to the works. It was built by Brown and Son at a cost of £490.
The Advertiser began to move into a technological age, buying a 2hp gas engine to supplement the steam power, and in 1895 installing the telephone.
Two years later came the first Linotype machine
Linotype machine
The Linotype typesetting machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over manual typesetting....
on hire. Within months came electric light installed at a cost of £100.
Mr Whiles, original owner of the Advertiser, had maintained his connection with it as cashier and publisher, for the paper was still being published from Stodman Street. When he died in 1900 he was succeeded by his son Mr Herbert Whiles.
It is a fact of life that newspapers thrive on bad news and in February 1901 Mr Brown was able to report to the board that "owing to the death of Her Gracious Majesty they had been exceptionally busy and the paper for the last three weeks had sold extremely well."
It was in 1903 that Mr J. C. Kew came on to the Advertiser scene in a significant way. He had already been writing for the paper for some years and also ran a coal business at Beaumond Cross.
He was later to be chairman of Newark Rural District
Newark Rural District
Newark was a rural district in Nottinghamshire, England from 1894 to 1974.It was formed by the Local Government Act 1894 from the Newark rural sanitary district...
Council for 21 years and during that time served two years as Mayor of Newark.
Mr Brown at the age of 51 decided to hand over some of his editorial responsibilities to Mr Kew who was then 35. It was a prophetic decision for just four years later Cornelius Brown died and Mr Kew became editor. Mr Brown had attended the October board meeting in 1907 but was taken ill ten days later after correcting the final proofs of his History of Newark. He died on November 4 without seeing the published version of Volume II.
The death of Cornelius Brown was a tragic blow to the Advertiser. But it is the way of newspapers to keep publishing on the appointed day whatever the circumstances.
External links
- Cornelius Brown on nottshistory.org.uk
- Newark Advertiser, Newark's local newspaper.