Henry Lucy
Encyclopedia
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, (5 December 1842 – 20 February 1924) was an English journalist and humorist, and a parliamentary sketch-writer acknowledged as the first great lobby correspondent.
Henry Lucy was born in Crosby
Crosby, Merseyside
Crosby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Lancashire it is situated north of Bootle, south of Southport, Formby and west of Netherton-History:...
, near Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in 1842, the son of Robert Lucy, a rose-engine
Rose engine lathe
A rose engine lathe is a specialized kind of geometric lathe. The headstock rocks back and forth with a rocking motion or along the spindle axis in a pumping motion, controlled by a rubber moving against a rosette or cam-like pattern mounted on the spindle, while the lathe spindle rotates...
turner in the watch trade, and his wife, Margaret Ellen Kemp. He was baptised on 23 April 1843 at St. Michael's Church
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, Crosby.
While he was still an infant the family removed to Everton, Liverpool, where he attended the private Crescent School until August 1856; thereafter until 1864 he was junior clerk to Robert Smith, hide merchant, of Redcross Street, Liverpool.
Worked as a clerk, and had poetry published in the Liverpool Mercury; taught himself shorthand. Worked for the Shrewsbury Chronicle
Shrewsbury Chronicle
The Shrewsbury Chronicle is the local newspaper for Shrewsbury and the surrounding area, including Church Stretton, in Shropshire, England....
(1864), the local Observer, and the Shropshire News. Lived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
during 1869, and learned French.
Lucy married on 29 October 1873 Emily Anne (1847–1937), daughter of his old schoolmaster at Liverpool, John White. There were no children of the marriage.
British journalist; wrote for Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
from 1870, for Daily News from 1873 (and of which he was the editor): and for Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
from 1881. Used the nom-de-plume "Toby, M.P." from 1881 to 1916. Wrote the weekly column "The Essence of Parliament" in Punch magazine for 35 years. When not writing under one of his pseudonyms, he was usually styled Henry W. Lucy.
In 1880, he began writing for The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
the Cross bench column, which continued for twenty-nine years.
His remarkable flair for politics and parliamentary affairs soon brought him to the front rank of his profession.
Knighted in 1909, he was the first lobby correspondent to be seen as the social equal of the politicians in the Commons whom he reported.
His London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
home was at 42 Ashley Gardens, and he was a member of the National Liberal Club
National Liberal Club
The National Liberal Club, known to its members as the NLC, is a London gentlemen's club, now also open to women, which was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 for the purpose of providing club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly-enlarged electorate after the Third...
.
He died of bronchitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
at Whitethorn, his country house at Hillside Street, Hythe, Kent
Hythe, Kent
Hythe , is a small coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the District of Shepway on the south coast of Kent. The word Hythe or Hithe is an Old English word meaning Haven or Landing Place....
in 1924, aged 81.
Sir Henry Lucy left a huge sum of money, over £250,000, and was probably the wealthiest Victorian journalist who was not also a newspaper proprietor.
In 1935, his widow Lady Lucy donated £1,000 to found the Sir Henry Lucy Scholarship at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby is a British independent school for day pupils, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside....
.
There are several portraits of Sir Henry Lucy at the National Portrait Gallery, including one by John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
.
Autobiographies
- Volume I "Some passages by the way" (1909)N Online version at The Internet Archive
- Volume II "More passages by the way" (1912)N Online version at The Internet Archive
- Volume III "Nearing Jordan" (1916) Online version at The Internet Archive
Note: N the catalogue has indexed these volumes in the wrong order.
"The Diary of a Journalist"
- Volume I (1920) Online version at The Internet Archive
- Volume II "Later Entries" (1922) Online version at The Internet Archive
- Volume III "Fresh Extracts" (1923)
by Henry Lucy
"The physical energy with which this election speech was delivered was certainly very remarkable for a man in his seventy-fourth year. There is, however, unmistakeable evidence of pumping up in the Premier's (Beaconsfield's) latest oratorical feats. The vigour is spasmodic, the strength artificial, and the listener has a feeling that at any moment a spring may break, a screw go loose, and the whole machinery come to a sudden stop.
Gladstone's tours de force are perfectly natural. When after one of his great speeches he resumes his seat, he is, and often proves himself to be, ready to start again. With the Premier, the excitement of the moment over and the appointed task achieved, he falls into a state of prostration painful to witness. His eyes seem to lose all expression, his cheeks fall in, and his face takes on a ghastly hue. Physically he is at least ten years older than Gladstone." A Diary of Two Parliaments
"The House of Commons is unique in many ways. I believe the main foundation of the position it holds among the parliaments of the world is the condition of volunteered unremunerated service.
In spite of the sneers from disappointed or flippant persons, a seat in the House of Commons remains one of the highest prizes of citizen life. There is no reason why any constituency desiring to do so may not return a member on the terms of paying him a salary. It is done in several cases, in two at least with the happiest results.
It would be a different thing to throw the whole place open with standing advertisement for eligible Members at a salary. The horde of impecunious babblers and busybodies attracted by such a bait would trample down the class of man who compose the present House of Commons and who are, in various ways, in touch with all the multiform interests of the nation."
Strand MagazineStrand MagazineThe Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
, 1883
"I would rather have been editor of Punch, than Emperor of India..."
"Yesterday Herbert SpencerHerbert SpencerHerbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
died at Brighton. His natural temperament was such that many things that other men got along with placidly gave him acute pain. To put the incontestable fact another way, he was perhaps the most irascible man who has ever been faced by the inconvenience of other people presuming to inhabit the same globe"
about Henry Lucy
President Woodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
credited Lucy with propelling him into public life, and described Lucy's articles in The Gentleman's Magazine
The Gentleman's Magazine
The Gentleman's Magazine was founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term "magazine" for a periodical...
as "the deciding impulse of [my] life; vivid descriptions of Parliament, which took an enthralling hold on [my] young imagination" New York Times, 1912
"Never in the House, but always of it, Lucy seemed to occupy for a long time a position of his own, as a species of familiar spirit or licensed jester, without which no Parliament was complete."
Times Obit., 1924
The journalist and writer Frank Harris
Frank Harris
Frank Harris was a Irish-born, naturalized-American author, editor, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day...
said of him that, "He met everyone, and knew no-one."
"Shackleton's naming an antarctic mountain after Sir Henry Lucy amuses me. I knew Lucy very well - a little toadie, who afterwards toadied himself into a title..." Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
, letter, 1910
Pseudonyms
Toby, M.P.The Member for the Chiltern Hundreds
The Member for Barks
Baron de Book-Worms
Books
"East by West: a journey in the Recess" (1885) Online version at The Internet Archive
"A Diary Of Two Parliaments: The Disraeli Parliament, 1874-1880" (1885) Online version at The Internet Archive
"A Diary Of Two Parliaments: The Gladstone Parliament, 1880-1885" (1886) Online version at The Internet Archive
"A Popular Handbook of Parliamentary Procedure" (1886) Online version at The Internet Archive
"Faces and Places" (1892) Online version at Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
"A Diary of the Salisbury Parliament, 1886-1892" (1892) Online version at The Internet Archive
"The Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone: A Study from Life" (1895) Online version at The Internet Archive
"A Diary of the Home Rule Parliament, 1892-1895" (1896) Online version at The Internet Archive
"The Log of the Tantallon Castle" (1896)
"The Miller's Niece, and some distant connections" [short stories] (1896)
"The Law and Practice of General Elections: A Popular Handbook" (1900)
"A Diary of the Unionist Parliament, 1895-1900" (1901) Online version at The Internet Archive
"Peeps at Parliament, taken from behind the Speaker's Chair" (1904) Online version at The Internet Archive
"Later peeps at Parliament, taken from behind the Speaker's Chair" (1905) Online version at The Internet Archive
"The Balfourian Parliament, 1900-1905" (1906) Online version at The Internet Archive
"Memories of Eight Parliaments" (1908) Online version at The Internet Archive
"Men and Manner in Parliament" (1919) Online version at The Internet Archive
"Lords and Commoners" (1921) Online version at The Internet Archive
Articles
"Mr. Gladstone at Hawarden" (1882) Online version at Cornell University LibraryCornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
"Glimpses Of Great Britons" (1882) Online version at Cornell University Library
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
"Hatfield House and the Marquess of Salisbury" (1885) Online version at Cornell University Library
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
"Men of the Salisbury Parliament" (1891) Online version at Cornell University Library
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
"Electioneering methods in England" (1892) Online version at Cornell University Library
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
"The Power of the British Press" (1896) Online version at Cornell University Library
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
"The Queen's Parliaments, Part I" (1897) Online version at Cornell University Library
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
"The Queen's Parliaments, Part II" (1897) Online version at Cornell University Library
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
and many more in Punch, Strand Magazine
Strand Magazine
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
, Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, Cornhill Magazine
Cornhill Magazine
The Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian magazine and literary journal named after Cornhill Street in London.Cornhill was founded by George Murray Smith in 1860 and was published until 1975. It was a literary journal with a selection of articles on diverse subjects and serialisations of new novels...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and others.
Triva
Mount Henry LucyMount Henry Lucy
Mount Henry Lucy is a prominent peak, 3,020 m, standing 2.5 nautical miles south-southeast of Mount White at the south end of Supporters Range. Discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition and named for Henry Lucy, who publicized Shackleton's expedition and assisted in obtaining a financial...
(3020m) in Antarctica was named after him by Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
in 1909, as thanks for Lucy's assistance in publicising his Nimrod Expedition
Nimrod Expedition
The British Antarctic Expedition 1907–09, otherwise known as the Nimrod Expedition, was the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton. Its main target, among a range of geographical and scientific objectives, was to be first to the South Pole...
and help in raising funds.
External links
- Faces and Places - an 1892 travelogue by Henry Lucy
- Faces and Places - audiobook from LibriVoxLibriVoxLibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers and is probably, since 2007, the world's most prolific audiobook publisher...
, read by Ruth Golding - Mark Twain makes some parting remarks - New York Times article, 25 October, 1903
- Sensation in the Lords witnessed by Toby, M.P. - New York Times article, 29 May, 1904
- Toby, M.P. tells how late dinners worry the Government - New York Times article, 17 July, 1904
- The Parliamentary Game - Review of Memories of Eight Parliaments, New York Times article, 16 May, 1908
- To build 8 Dreadnoughts - New York Times article, 4 April, 1909
- 'Toby, M.P.', Pinero and Tree knighted - New York Times article, 25 June, 1909
- Sixty Years in the Wilderness - Review of Sixty years in the Wilderness, Vol. 1, New York Times article, 26 June, 1909
- Humor in the House of Commons, by Toby, M.P. - New York Times article, 27 November, 1910
- Toby, M.P. writes of the English Peerage - New York Times article, 25 December, 1910
- Governor Woodrow Wilson as his biographer knows him - New York Times article, 28 July, 1912
- Toby, M.P. - Review of Sixty years in the Wilderness, Vol. 2, New York Times article, 23 March, 1913
- Washington ghost disclosed by Lucy - New York Times article, 25 July, 1912
- A Humorist writes History - Review of The Diary of a Journalist, New York Times article, 9 January, 1921
- Men and Manners in Parliament - Review of Men and Manner in Parliament, New York Times article, 24 July, 1921
- Sir Toby, M.P. sketches Parliament - Review of Lords and Commoners, New York Times article, 25 June, 1922
- Later Diary of Toby, M.P. - Review of The Diary of a Journalist: Later Entries, New York Times article, 10 September, 1922
- Sir William Harcourt, Victorian Statesman - Book review by Sir Henry Lucy, New York Times article, 29 October, 1922
- Death notice - notice of death in TIME Magazine, 3 March, 1924
- Portraits of Sir Henry Lucy - Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery