Samuel Lucas
Encyclopedia
Samuel Lucas was a British Journalist and abolitionist. He was the editor of the Morning Star in London, the only national newspaper in Britain to support the Unionist cause in the American Civil War. He died knowing that legal slavery in America had ended. In 2010 a U.S. Embassy attache visited the tomb of Samuel Lucas. Lucas lived to hear the "tidings of the destruction of the slave power in the United States"
. His father bought and sold corn. Lucas married his cousin Margaret Bright
on 6 September 1839 who was also from a well connected family in the Society of Friends. His wife was to become famous in her own right largely after Lucas's death.
Lucas worked for many good causes. He attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840 and he was included in the commemmorative painting by Benjamin Haydon
. Freeing slaves was to be a theme throughout his life. Another interest was secular schools. which Lucas championed in Manchester and where he met Richard Cobden
. He had moved there in 1845 as he took an interest in a cotton mill and he stayed there for five years before returning to London. He became active for the Anti-Corn Law League
which Cobden and John Bright
had founded. His wife Margaret organised meetings and Samuel led them. Meanwhile his wife took the leading role in caring for their daughter, Katherine, and their mute son.
In August 1847 he was a founding member of the Lancashire based organisation that was to become the National Public Schools Association. As a result Lucas wrote a Plan for the Establishment of a General System of Secular Education in the County of Lancaster, By 1860 Lucas and his family had moved to London where he became a supporter of the Society for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge.
In March 1856, his brother in law, John Bright
in partnership with Cobden created a new newspaper which was called the Morning Star. Lucas was appointed as the paper's editor. Lucas took a strong interest in running the paper where he was the "managing proprieter". Matthew Arnold
described the paper as reflecting the "rancour of Protestant dissent in alliance with the vulgarity meddlesomeness and grossness of the British multitude." Eventually Lucas became too ill to regularly attend, and he had to appoint a sub editor. However, he would still oversee the paper, and at times obliged journalists to write a second article that negated an opinion Lucas did not approve of. The paper took a strong line on anti-slavery and the Morning Star was the only national paper to support the Unionist side.
In 1859 Lucas became the editor of the newly established Once A Week
, a weekly illustrated literary magazine
published by Bradbury and Evans
. The magazine was founded after a dispute between Bradbury and Evans and Charles Dickens
. The magazine was notable for its illustrations but after Lucas' death it went into decline and ceased printing in 1880.
Lucas died in London
on 15 April 1865 of a bronchial illness, and it was noted that he lived long enough to be told of end of the battle of Richmond which marked the end of the American Civil War
and slavery in the United States. He was buried in Highgate cemetery
in London, where in time his wife was also buried.
Lucas and his wife's tomb in Highgate has been a listed building since 2007.
Biography
Samuel Lucas was born in 1811 to a Quaker family in WandsworthWandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
. His father bought and sold corn. Lucas married his cousin Margaret Bright
Margaret Bright Lucas
Margaret Bright Lucas was a temperance activist and suffragist.-Biography:Margaret Bright was born on 14 July 1818 at Rochdale, Lancashire...
on 6 September 1839 who was also from a well connected family in the Society of Friends. His wife was to become famous in her own right largely after Lucas's death.
Lucas worked for many good causes. He attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840 and he was included in the commemmorative painting by Benjamin Haydon
Benjamin Haydon
Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English historical painter and writer.-Biography:Haydon was born in Plymouth. His mother was the daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Cobley, rector of Dodbrooke, near Kingsbridge, Devon. Her brother, General Sir Thomas Cobley, was renowned for his part in the siege of Ismail...
. Freeing slaves was to be a theme throughout his life. Another interest was secular schools. which Lucas championed in Manchester and where he met Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
. He had moved there in 1845 as he took an interest in a cotton mill and he stayed there for five years before returning to London. He became active for the Anti-Corn Law League
Anti-Corn Law League
The Anti-Corn Law League was in effect the resumption of the Anti-Corn Law Association, which had been created in London in 1836 but did not obtain widespread popularity. The Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester in 1838...
which Cobden and John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
had founded. His wife Margaret organised meetings and Samuel led them. Meanwhile his wife took the leading role in caring for their daughter, Katherine, and their mute son.
In August 1847 he was a founding member of the Lancashire based organisation that was to become the National Public Schools Association. As a result Lucas wrote a Plan for the Establishment of a General System of Secular Education in the County of Lancaster, By 1860 Lucas and his family had moved to London where he became a supporter of the Society for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge.
In March 1856, his brother in law, John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
in partnership with Cobden created a new newspaper which was called the Morning Star. Lucas was appointed as the paper's editor. Lucas took a strong interest in running the paper where he was the "managing proprieter". Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator...
described the paper as reflecting the "rancour of Protestant dissent in alliance with the vulgarity meddlesomeness and grossness of the British multitude." Eventually Lucas became too ill to regularly attend, and he had to appoint a sub editor. However, he would still oversee the paper, and at times obliged journalists to write a second article that negated an opinion Lucas did not approve of. The paper took a strong line on anti-slavery and the Morning Star was the only national paper to support the Unionist side.
In 1859 Lucas became the editor of the newly established Once A Week
Once A Week (magazine)
Once A Week was an English weekly illustrated literary magazine published by Bradbury and Evans. According to John Sutherland, "[h]istorically the magazine's main achievement was to provide an outlet for [an] innovative group of illustrators [in] the 1860s."The magazine was founded in consequence...
, a weekly illustrated literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
published by Bradbury and Evans
Bradbury and Evans
Bradbury and Evans was an English printer and publisher founded by William Bradbury and Frederick Mullet Evans. For the first ten years they were printers, then added publishing in 1841 after they purchased Punch magazine. As printers they did work for Edward Moxon and Chapman and Hall...
. The magazine was founded after a dispute between Bradbury and Evans and Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
. The magazine was notable for its illustrations but after Lucas' death it went into decline and ceased printing in 1880.
Lucas died in 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...
on 15 April 1865 of a bronchial illness, and it was noted that he lived long enough to be told of end of the battle of Richmond which marked the end of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and slavery in the United States. He was buried in Highgate cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
in London, where in time his wife was also buried.
Legacy
Lucas died before he could see the headlines in the Morning Star that marked the end of slavery. Lucas's paper was the only newspaper that supported the Union side from the start of the war. In 2010 an official from the U.S. Embassy officially paid respect at Lucas's tomb.
Here rest the remains of SAMUEL LUCAS, aged 54. He died on the 16th of April, 1865, a few hours after hearing the tidings of the destruction of the slave power in the United States, by the fall of Richmond; an object which he had unceasingly laboured to promote as Managing-Proprietor of the Morning Star.
Lucas and his wife's tomb in Highgate has been a listed building since 2007.